BSD to leapfrog Linux?
Much of the excitement revolves around Darwin, "the fifth BSD." Darwin is published by Apple and available for download from PublicSource.Apple.Com under the Apple Public Source License. Darwin underpins MacOS X, and will thus put BSD in many millions of new hands in Q1 of 2001 -- if Apple actually succeeds in meeting that ship date (something veteran Apple observers will probably believe when they see).
Darwin is built around a NeXT-like Mach microkernel that is said to be somewhat less microkernel-like than NeXT. It borrows machine-specific code from NetBSD, the version of BSD that focuses on portability and now runs on more than 30 platforms. Going forward, it will track a stable version of FreeBSD, which is the more popular and traditionally x86-only version that claims about a million users worldwide, according to Coleman.
Darwin lacks Aqua, Apple's sexy window manager and graphical environment, and other proprietary Apple touches. However, a port of XFree86 and other free open source stop-gaps make it usable in its own right. Besides making Darwin available for free download, Apple is expected to announce a Darwin CD distribution partnership on Monday for the 1.2 release.
The on-schedule release of Darwin 1.2 bodes well for a timely MacOS X delivery schedule, and the BSD community -- long the free Unix-like OS world's forgotten stepchildren in the face of Linux superstardom -- are clearly relishing the chance to battle both Linux and Microsoft on a global OS scale.
FreeBSD's central figurehead Jordan Hubbard recently published an inspired rant about how BSD and Apple could take down Microsoft if only Apple would Open Source the rest of MacOS X. He concludes with, "Ah well; a BSD developer can dream..."
Hubbard's quibbles aside, Apple has clearly made great strides in open source PR since the days when they were viewed as anathema to the Free Software world. According to Coleman, "The BSD license means that Apple doesn't have to give back anything, but they are giving back. One Apple employee even has commit permissions to the FreeBSD CVS."
Coleman, too, is clearly psyched about the prospects of wider exposure for BSDs. In addition to publishing DaemonNews and serving as Open Source editor for the BSD portion of OreillyNet.com, he started the www.openpackages.org initiative to standardize handling of third-party software across the various BSDs. "DaemonNews was the first online site to reach out to all the BSDs, and openpackages.org tries to do the same thing."
FreeBSD and OpenBSD have about 4,100 and 1,000 packages, respectively, in their "ports collections," while NetBSD has about 2,000 in its "package source collection." Coleman and openpackages.org hope to standardize on an effective admininstrative tool and packaging format for all the BSDs that could simplify BSD administration and make more software available to all BSD users.
BSD has sometimes been criticized for the Balkanization of its various branches. While each branch has a specific focus -- OpenBSD on security, NetBSD on portability, FreeBSD on x86, and BSDI on commercial support -- dissent in the developer ranks has sometimes hurt BSD. The BSD development model revolves around smaller, tighter and more closed developement circles than Linux. While there may be perhaps 200 with commit privileges in FreeBSD, there are only nine on the "core team."
Coleman is proud to have helped start the DaemonNews in 1998, in part because it serves all of the BSDs. "We were the first publication to focus on BSD, rather than a specific flavor of BSD."
Initially an all-volunteer undertaking, DaemonNews has shifted slowly to a staff-based model, thanks in part to ad sales and in part to proceeds from the DaemonNewsMall.com, its e-commerce branch. Centering around the key efforts of about 15 people, DaemonNews publishes a fresh round of stories on the first of each month, a schedule that should make the shift into print relatively painless.
DaemonNews print will sell for $4.95, with subscriptions selling domestically for $24.95 per year and also available to international customers. Publication will start out bi-monthly, with monthly shipments expected before 2002. Circulation is projected to start at 10,000 for the first issue. "Ad sales are going really well so far," according to Coleman.
Those wishing to become premier subscribers to DaemonNews print can place orders at the DaemonNewsMall now. If all the BSD buzz over Darwin and MacOS X pans out, those first issues could even be collectible.