GhostBSD

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Unsubst".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

GhostBSD is a Unix-like operating system based on FreeBSD for x86-64, with MATE (previously GNOME) as its default desktop environment and an Xfce-desktop community based edition. It aims to be easy to install, ready-to-use and easy to use. The project goal is to combine security, privacy, stability, usability, openness, freedom and to be free of charge.

History

Prior to GhostBSD 18.10, the project was based on FreeBSD. In May 2018 it was announced that future versions of the operating system would be based on TrueOS.[1][2] In 2020, with the discontinuation of TrueOS, GhostBSD switched back to FreeBSD.[3]

Version history

FreeBSD based releases (1.0–11.1)

GhostBSD version Release date FreeBSD version Desktop environments Changes
1.0[4] March 2010 8.0 GNOME 2.28 First general availability release[5]
1.5 ? 8.1 GNOME 2.30 Introduced Compiz support. (This version was also distributed with the January 2011 issue of the German magazine freeX, which also featured an article about the new OS.)
2.0 March 13, 2011 8.2 ? Improvements to GDM et al.
2.5[6][7] January 24, 2012 9.0 ? Choice of preconfigured GNOME or LXDE desktop[8]
3.0 March 10, 2013 9.1 ? The last release to deploy the GNOME 2 desktop environment
3.1 June 28, 2013 ? ? A point release primarily to fix bugs
3.5[9] November 7, 2013 ? Script error: No such module "list". LibreOffice exchanged for Apache OpenOffice 4.[10]
4.0[11] October 4, 2014 10.0 ? Various new features[12]
10.1[13] September 13, 2015 10.1 ? Software additions[14]
10.3 August 31, 2016 10.3 ? ZFS support, UEFI support, ...[15]
11.1[16] November 16, 2017 11.1 MATE 1.18
Xfce 4.12
GhostBSD Software repositories, dropped i386 support, WhiskerMenu as default menu (Xfce)[17]

TrueOS-based releases (18.10–21.01.20)

From GhostBSD 18.10 to 21.01.20, the project moved its base from FreeBSD to TrueOS. Following are TrueOS-based GhostBSD releases:

GhostBSD version Release date Desktop environment Changes
18.10[18][19] November 1, 2018 MATE 1.20 First release based on TrueOS
19.04[20] April 13, 2019 MATE 1.22 and Xfce
19.09[21] September 16, 2019 MATE and Xfce Moved from TrueOS CURRENT to STABLE
19.10[22] October 26, 2019
20.01[23] January 22, 2020
20.03 March 31, 2020
20.04[24] August 10, 2020 MATE 1.24 and Xfce
21.01.20[25] January 23, 2021

FreeBSD based releases (21.04.27–present)

Beginning from GhostBSD 21.04.27, the project has moved its base back to FreeBSD.

GhostBSD version Release date Desktop environment Changes
21.04.27 April 29, 2021 GhostBSD is now based on FreeBSD 13.0-STABLE
21.5.11[26] May 11, 2021
21.09.06[27] September 7, 2021 Switch from OpenRC to FreeBSD rc.d
21.09.08[28] September 9, 2021
22.06.15 June 18, 2022
22.06.18[29] June 20, 2022
23.06.01 June 5, 2023
23.10.01[30] October 28, 2023 MATE 1.26.0
24.01.01 February 13, 2024 Based on FreeBSD 14.0-STABLE
24.04.1[31] May 20, 2024 MATE 1.28.1 Based on FreeBSD 14.0-STABLE
24.07.3[32] September 12, 2024
24.10.1[33] November 17, 2024 UFS installation support removed from installer
25.01-R14.2p1[34] February 28, 2025 1.28.2 Now based FreeBSD RELEASE with a new versioning scheme
25.02-R14.3p2[35] August 25, 2025 Addition of a community-supported GNUstep desktop environment

License

GhostBSD was originally licensed under the 3-clause BSD license ("Revised BSD License", "New BSD License", or "Modified BSD License")

In 2014 Eric Turgeon re-licensed GhostBSD under 2-clause license ("Simplified BSD License" or "FreeBSD License"). GhostBSD contains some GPL-licensed software.

The following are the recommended requirements:[36]

  • 2 GHz dual core Intel/AMD 64-bit processor
  • 8 GB RAM (system memory for physical and virtualized installs)
  • VGA capable of Template:Times screen resolution
  • 15 GB of free hard drive space
  • Network access

Reception

Jim Salter of Ars Technica concluded that GhostBSD was "... perfectly reasonable choice for a desktop distribution." However, Google Chrome support was unlikely to come anytime soon. Without a specific desire for running BSD he wouldn't recommend the operating system instead of a more mainstream Linux distribution.[37]

See also

Script error: No such module "Portal".

References

Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.

  1. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 361, 5 July 2010
  5. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. GhostBSD 2.5 review | LinuxBSDos.com
  7. DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 443, 13 February 2012
  8. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 535, 25 November 2013
  10. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 582, 27 October 2014
  12. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 633, 26 October 2015
  14. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 745, 8 January 2018
  17. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  20. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  21. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  23. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  24. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  25. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  26. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  27. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  28. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  29. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  30. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  31. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  32. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  33. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  34. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  35. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  36. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  37. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

Script error: No such module "Navbox".