NetBSD adds RPi Zero support with 7.1 release

Raspberry Pi Zero users have another operating system to choose from, with the release of NetBSD 7.1. The Pi Zero isn't the only development board added in the release: the ARM-based ODROID-C1 quad-core single board computer also gets its moment in the spotlight. Also in this release, the wm driver for Intel i8254x gigabit …

[tr1ck5t3r]

And why would I do that?

[MacroRodent]

More choices onf the Free OS shop shelf

And why would I do that?

For some embedded purposes, NetBSD can be a good choice. Among other things, it is generally leaner than Linux, and has liberal (non-GPL) license. But you probably do not want it on your desktop, unless you really love Ye Olde Unix style of doing things.

[Mage]

Re: More choices onf the Free OS shop shelf

"And why would I do that?

For some embedded purposes, NetBSD can be a good choice."

Maybe the poster was referring to using Google resources. NetBSD of itself is a good thing.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: More choices onf the Free OS shop shelf

MacroRodent: "But you probably do not want it on your desktop, unless you really love Ye Olde Unix style of doing things."

It actually makes a very nice desktop. The command line tools are as rich, but a little more consistent, than a typical Linux distro and the package collection contains most GUI stuff you're likely to want.

[naive]

Re: More choices onf the Free OS shop shelf

To give the idea: NetBSD runs happily on 64M, can be installed on 1GB of disk space.

And security wise: What you install is what you install, what you start is what you see in "ps ax" and "netstat -an", what is started during boot is visible in /etc/rc.local and /etc/rc.d, what is listed in /etc/fstab is visible in /etc/fstab, recompiling a kernel is a simple and transparent task.

NetBSD stole my heart after having drifted from the true Unix idea way too long thanks to the 'Windonization" process that is driving Linux into the abyss. The transparency and simplicity of NetBSD was a shocking experience after years of voodoo with "dependencies", exploding requirements for disk space and more recently a newly developed plague like "sysctl", which makes me wonder when the same sort of people will introduce a registry into Linux.

For people who like to retake control of their OS, NetBSD, and probably other BSD variants, are a good choice.

[MacroRodent]

Re: More choices onf the Free OS shop shelf

The downside is you then really *have* to learn about those configuration files and scripts, before getting anything done. Also to get beyond the spartan base system, you have to install lots of software from the "ports". This is fine for experienced users of unix-type systems, and for those with lots of motivation to become one, but for others the learning curve is a bit too steep. Installing NetBSD now is an experience similar to installing one of the first Linux distributions in early 1990's...

(Having said that, I might well give NetBSD 7.1 a go on one ten-year old PC I have at home, which currently has an old OpenSUSE Linux on it, and might not have the power to run the latest version so smoothly...).

[Voland's right hand]

Variety of reasons

1. Use and development of software which is not license compatible with the Linux kernel.

2. Smaller footprint

3. While Linux documentation and code has improved over the years it is still not the right OS to teach people. If you want to teach people, BSD is a better choice as it is "written by the book" and documented properly. End of the day the primary goal of RPi is education. If it supports BSD this means its scope is no longer just kids and Scratch - it is a viable tool in a University classroom in an OS design course (if there are any universities left which try to teach things properly instead of asking the industry if it likes it with ice cubes or with hot coffee)..

[Charlie Clark]

Re: Variety of reasons

@Voland

And, 4. NetBSD's special trick: build for all platforms from a single source tree.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Variety of reasons

Not to mention it's amazing build.sh build system that can pretty much build for any arch from not only any arch but also from almost any other OS!

[LionelB]

Relax - you don't have to do that.

[wolfetone]

"And why would I do that?"

Well, why not?

[picturethis]

Because it makes business & security sense..

If the RPiZ (and RPiZ Wireless) become extremely popular for IoT (and they will at $10 a pop), then what better platform to use for security than an open source one such as NetBSD?

I know my company just decided to incorporate a RPiZ-W on our next gen system board - just for the wireless. I can't see the downside to this. We haven't decided on which OS yet, but for what the hardware costs, one can't even purchase the individual components for the cost..

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Because it makes business & security sense..

The RPi Zero W is already scheduled for the grabbing here as mesh with added capabilities is the feature. As an old BSD hand, dating back to a highly upgraded Amiga 2000, NetBSD availability is icing on the, ummm, Pi? Nice timing.

[werdsmith]

Useful because the raspBSD project that does FreeBSD for the Pi doesn't name the zero as a supported SBC.

[Dinsdale247]

The FreeBSD 12-Current image for RPi B works but not all drivers are compatible. There are a number of people on the FreeBSD-arm mailing list using it. Odriod-C/C2 is also being worked on with a slight uptick in progress in the last few weeks.

I suspect the state of those platforms in FreeBSD had some influence on the NetBSD teams decision to offer support for them.

[Susan Vash]

"Packages that get security fixes include the BIND DNS process,"

No, surely not. BIND? Getting a security fix? What is the world coming to?