New names in the BSD family

Compared to Linux, the BSD community is much smaller, but hey, there’s still a lot happening! So I thought, why not have a look at some recent developments?

We all know our good friends, the frees, nets, opens and dragonflies, but what else is there?

Let’s look at some BSD projects that started or got going again since around 2022.

• AlpineBSD: A NetBSD-based system with Alpine-inspired tools; no installer yet.
• NixBSD: A FreeBSD distribution built and configured using NixOS-style declarations.
• Daemonarchy: A FreeBSD desktop installer and package collection bringing the Omarchy workflow and Hyprland to BSD.
• HyprBSD: A FreeBSD desktop with Hyprland and its own installer, currently in release candidates with project source still unpublished.
• NextBSD Redux: A revival combining FreeBSD and Darwin system services, with preview images available.
• FreeCORE: Continue TrueNAS CORE as a FreeBSD-based NAS with a web interface.
• BSDnas: A NAS system continuing TrueNAS CORE on FreeBSD’s stable/15 branch, currently a development preview.
• FreeSense: Build an independently maintained firewall/router derived from pfSense CE.
• BastilleBSD: Provide FreeBSD images preconfigured for running jails with Bastille and Rocinante.
• smolBSD: A toolkit for building small NetBSD virtual machines tailored to individual services.
• smolcracy: An Omarchy-inspired X11/i3 desktop configuration within smolBSD, rather than a separate distribution.
• PureDarwin: A standalone Darwin/XNU system, revived with developer previews available.
• 5BSD: A FreeBSD security development project focused on capabilities and policy enforcement, with public component code.
• JailStation 47: A FreeBSD fork targeting game-console hardware.
• ChaosBSD: A staging area for FreeBSD drivers, not a separate distribution.

If there’s a recent project I’ve missed, or you’ve tried one of these, I’d like to hear about it, share it on DiscoverBSD.

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