1<!DOCTYPE html> 2<html lang="en"> 3<head> 4<meta charset="utf-8"> 5<meta name="generator" content="Website XSL Stylesheet V2.6.0"> 6<link rel="home" href="../." title="Welcome to The NetBSD Project: Of course it runs NetBSD."> 7<link rel="up" href="../." title="Welcome to The NetBSD Project: Of course it runs NetBSD."> 8<link rel="previous" href="../." title="Welcome to The NetBSD Project: Of course it runs NetBSD."> 9<link rel="next" href="../about/call-it-a-duck.html" title="About the UNIX trademark"> 10<link rel="last" href="../support/." title="NetBSD support"> 11<link rel="stylesheet" href="../global.css" type="text/css"> 12<link rel="stylesheet" href="../donations/thermo/fundraiser.css" type="text/css"> 13<title>About NetBSD</title> 14<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, minimum-scale=1.0"> 15</head> 16<body class="website"><div class="webpage" id="about-index"> 17<div id="top"><a href="#mainContent" id="skiplink" tabindex="1">Skip to main content.</a></div> 18<input id="hamburger" type="checkbox"><label class="menuicon" for="hamburger"><span></span><span></span><span></span></label><div id="navBar" role="navigation"> 19<div id="centralHeader"><div id="logo"> 20<a href="../"><img id="projectLogo" alt="" height="120" src="../images/NetBSD-smaller-tb.png"></a><a href="/"><div id="fundraiser"> 21<br><div id="fundraiser-amount"><div id="fundraiser-raised"></div></div> 22</div></a> 23</div></div> 24<span class="doNotDisplay"> 25 Navigation: 26 </span><ul> 27<li> 28<a href="../"> 29 Home</a><ul> 30<li><a href="../changes/"> 31 Recent changes</a></li> 32<li><a href="//blog.NetBSD.org/"> 33 NetBSD blog</a></li> 34<li><a href="../gallery/presentations/"> 35 Presentations</a></li> 36</ul> 37</li> 38<li> 39<a href="../about/"> 40 About</a><ul> 41<li><a href="../people/developers.html"> 42 Developers</a></li> 43<li><a href="../gallery/"> 44 Gallery</a></li> 45<li><a href="//wiki.NetBSD.org/ports/"> 46 Ports</a></li> 47<li><a href="//www.pkgsrc.org/"> 48 Packages</a></li> 49</ul> 50</li> 51<li> 52<a href="../docs/"> 53 Documentation</a><ul> 54<li><a href="../docs/misc/index.html"> 55 FAQ & HOWTOs</a></li> 56<li><a href="../docs/guide/en/"> 57 The Guide</a></li> 58<li><a href="//man.NetBSD.org/"> 59 Manual pages</a></li> 60<li><a href="//wiki.NetBSD.org/"> 61 Wiki</a></li> 62</ul> 63</li> 64<li> 65<a href="../support/"> 66 Support</a><ul> 67<li><a href="/community/"> 68 Community</a></li> 69<li><a href="/mailinglists/"> 70 Mailing lists</a></li> 71<li><a href="../support/send-pr.html"> 72 Bug reports</a></li> 73<li><a href="../support/security/"> 74 Security</a></li> 75</ul> 76</li> 77<li> 78<a href="../developers/"> 79 Developers</a><ul> 80<li><a href="//cvsweb.NetBSD.org/"> 81 CVSWeb</a></li> 82<li><a href="//anonhg.NetBSD.org/"> 83 Mercurial</a></li> 84<li><a href="//nxr.NetBSD.org/"> 85 Cross-reference</a></li> 86<li><a href="//releng.NetBSD.org/"> 87 Release engineering</a></li> 88<li><a href="//wiki.NetBSD.org/projects/"> 89 Projects list</a></li> 90</ul> 91</li> 92</ul> 93</div> 94<div id="content"><div id="mainContent" class="fullWidth"><div class="rowOfBoxes"> 95<h1>About NetBSD</h1> 96<div class="sect2" id="what"> 97<div class="titlepage"><h3 class="titlepage">What is NetBSD?</h3></div> 98 99 100<p> 101NetBSD is an entirely free and open-source UNIX-like operating system developed 102by an international community. It isn't a "distribution" or variant, but has 103evolved over several decades to be a complete and unique operating system in 104the BSD family. 105 106</p> 107<p> 108NetBSD was originally released in 1993. 109Over time, its code has found its way into many surprising environments, 110on the basis of a long history of quality, cleanliness, and stability. 111The NetBSD code was originally derived from 112<span class="bold"><strong>4.4BSD Lite2</strong></span> from the 113<span class="bold"><strong>University of California, Berkeley</strong></span>. 114</p> 115 116<p> 117NetBSD is distributed as a set of fully reproducible binaries: 118</p> 119<div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "> 120<li class="listitem"> 121 <span class="bold"><strong> 122 <a class="ulink" href="/releases" target="_top"> 123 Releases 124 </a> 125 </strong></span> 126 are cut periodically from stable branches after a period of testing 127 and are supported for several years. 128 </li> 129<li class="listitem"> 130 <span class="bold"><strong> 131 <a class="ulink" href="https://nycdn.NetBSD.org/pub/NetBSD-daily/netbsd-10/" target="_top"> 132 NetBSD-stable 133 </a> 134 </strong></span> 135 is a nightly distribution of the latest release branch, and includes 136 fixes and improvements that will make it into the next point release. 137 It is compatible with binaries from releases from the same branch. 138 </li> 139<li class="listitem"> 140 <span class="bold"><strong> 141 <a class="ulink" href="https://nycdn.NetBSD.org/pub/NetBSD-daily/HEAD/" target="_top"> 142 NetBSD-current 143 </a> 144 </strong></span> 145 is a nightly distribution of the latest development branch, and includes 146 the latest features, but also potentially experimental changes and bugs. 147 Official package builds are not currently produced for -current. 148 </li> 149</ul></div> 150<p> 151</p> 152</div> 153<div class="sect2" id="why-use"> 154<div class="titlepage"><h3 class="titlepage">Why use NetBSD?</h3></div> 155 156 157<p> 158NetBSD users enjoy a simple, well-documented, and fully integrated UNIX-like 159system that feels minimal, and in many ways traditional, while including many 160modern and interesting features, and support for recent hardware. 161</p> 162 163<p> 164As a community, the people who make NetBSD have a wide area of interests, 165which has resulted in a system with some diverse features: 166</p> 167
168<div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "> 169<li class="listitem"> 170 <span class="bold"><strong> 171 Security and memory hardening features 172 </strong></span> 173 - including PaX MPROTECT (W^X) enforced globally by default with an option to 174 exclude binaries, <a class="ulink" href="//man.NetBSD.org/security" target="_top">among others</a>. 175 File integrity protection is provided by 176 <a class="ulink" href="//man.NetBSD.org/veriexec" target="_top">veriexec</a>, 177 and the traditional BSD 178 <a class="ulink" href="//man.NetBSD.org/secmodel_securelevel" target="_top">securelevels</a> 179 further restrict operations that can be performed by even the superuser. 180 NetBSD includes its own native firewall, 181 <a class="ulink" href="//man.NetBSD.org/npf" target="_top">NPF</a>, 182 and has been used successfully on security-critical networking devices. 183 NetBSD's kernel and userspace have undergone extensive checks by code 184 sanitizers and automated testing. 185 </li> 186<li class="listitem"> 187 <span class="bold"><strong> 188 Powerful package management 189 </strong></span> 190 - NetBSD's <a class="ulink" href="https://pkgsrc.org" target="_top">pkgsrc</a> 191 has its own release schedule of quarterly stable 192 branches and a "rolling release" branch, which can be combined in any 193 way with the NetBSD base system. 194 <a class="ulink" href="https://pkgin.net/" target="_top">pkgin</a> is a user-friendly 195 binary package manager for pkgsrc, but on its own pkgsrc itself allows 196 power users a great deal of flexibility. 197 pkgsrc has been widely adopted in the high-performance scientific 198 computing community, including at 199 <a class="ulink" href="https://www.nas.nasa.gov/hecc/support/kb/using-software-packages-in-pkgsrc_493.html" target="_top">NASA</a>, 200 and supports other platforms, but NetBSD is prioritized. 201 </li> 202<li class="listitem"> 203 <span class="bold"><strong> 204 Modern storage capabilities 205 </strong></span> 206 - including the 207 <a class="ulink" href="//man.NetBSD.org/zfs" target="_top">ZFS</a> file system, 208 <a class="ulink" href="//man.NetBSD.org/raid" target="_top">RAIDframe</a> software RAID system, 209 and <a class="ulink" href="//man.NetBSD.org/cgd" target="_top">cgd</a> disk encryption. 210 There is support for the 211 <a class="ulink" href="//www.NetBSD.org/docs/guide/en/chap-lvm.html" target="_top">Logical Volume Manager,</a> 212 as well as the traditional BSD filesystem (with logging extension) and 213 disklabel system. 214 </li> 215<li class="listitem"> 216 <span class="bold"><strong> 217 ARM hardware support 218 </strong></span> 219 for a 220 <a class="ulink" href="//wiki.NetBSD.org/ports/evbarm/" target="_top">wide range</a> 221 of open, low-cost, and high-end devices, including powerful SBBA/SBBR 222 servers, open hardware laptops, and pocket-sized development boards. 223 Entirely in the mainline kernel, supported by a single image, and 224 maintained by NetBSD developers with long-term support in mind. 225 </li> 226<li class="listitem"> 227 <span class="bold"><strong> 228 Virtualization support 229 </strong></span> 230 - including the well-established enterprise 231 solution in <a class="ulink" href="//wiki.NetBSD.org/ports/xen" target="_top">Xen</a>, 232 and the native NetBSD kernel module and library making up the 233 <a class="ulink" href="//blog.NetBSD.org/tnf/entry/from_zero_to_nvmm" target="_top">NVMM</a> 234 hypervisor, which provides hardware acceleration for 235 <a class="ulink" href="https://www.qemu.org/" target="_top">QEMU</a> 236 in a clean and secure way. 237 </li> 238<li class="listitem"> 239 Support for 240 <span class="bold"><strong> 241 modern x86 hardware 242 </strong></span> 243 including NVMe, UEFI, accelerated graphics, and 244 a range of <a class="ulink" href="//wiki.NetBSD.org/laptops/" target="_top">laptops</a>. 245 </li> 246<li class="listitem"> 247 <span class="bold"><strong> 248 Continuing stable support 249 </strong></span> 250 for a wide range of "legacy" hardware and ABIs. 251 There's long-term backwards compatibility to even the earliest NetBSD 252 releases without compromising on feature like 64-bit time. 253 We intend to keep these systems running long after Year 2038. 254 </li> 255</ul></div> 256</div> 257<div class="sect2" id="project-goals"> 258<div class="titlepage"><h3 class="titlepage">The NetBSD Project's goals</h3></div> 259 260 261 <p> 262 A project has no point if it doesn't have goals. Thankfully, 263 the NetBSD Project has enough goals to keep it busy for quite some 264 time. Generally speaking, the NetBSD Project: 265 </p> 266
267 <div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "> 268<li class="listitem"> 269 <a class="ulink" href="system.html" target="_top">provides a well designed, stable, and fast BSD 270 system</a>, 271 </li> 272<li class="listitem"> 273 <a class="ulink" href="redistribution.html" target="_top">avoids encumbering licenses</a>, 274 </li> 275<li class="listitem"> 276 <a class="ulink" href="portability.html" target="_top">provides a portable system, which runs on 277 many hardware platforms</a>, 278 </li> 279<li class="listitem"> 280 <a class="ulink" href="interop.html" target="_top">interoperates well with other systems</a>, 281 </li> 282<li class="listitem"> 283 <a class="ulink" href="standards.html" target="_top">conforms to open systems standards as much as 284 is practical.</a> 285 </li> 286</ul></div> 287 288 <p><span class="bold"><strong>In summary:</strong></span> 289 The NetBSD Project provides a freely available and 290 redistributable system that professionals, hobbyists, and 291 researchers can use in whatever manner they wish. 292 </p> 293</div> 294<div class="sect2" id="content_name"> 295<div class="titlepage"><h3 class="titlepage">Why the name?</h3></div> 296 297 298<p> 299NetBSD was one of the first major open source projects to be organized 300collaboratively entirely over the internet, using a network-connected 301version control system to develop the OS and organizing the project over 302email since 1993. 303The Internet was an enabling technology that made NetBSD possible. 304The <span class="quote">â<span class="quote">Net</span>â</span> in our name was thus chosen as a tribute to 305the Internet. 306</p> 307 308<p> 309The <span class="quote">â<span class="quote">BSD</span>â</span> in our name is an obvious recognition of our 310heritage as a derivative of <span class="bold"><strong>4.4BSD</strong></span> 311and <span class="bold"><strong>386BSD</strong></span>. 312</p> 313 314<p> 315Read more about <a class="ulink" href="history.html" target="_top">the history of NetBSD</a>. 316</p> 317 318</div> 319<div class="sect2" id="people"> 320<div class="titlepage"><h3 class="titlepage">The people who make NetBSD happen</h3></div> 321 322 323 <p> 324 A large number of people have put a lot of time and effort into making 325 the NetBSD operating system what it is today, either by developing the 326 system itself, supporting its development, or simply using it. 327 Those people can be broken down into the following groups: 328 </p> 329
330 <div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "> 331<li class="listitem"> 332 <a class="ulink" href="../people/developers.html" target="_top"><span class="strong"><strong>NetBSD 333 Developers</strong></span></a> 334 </li> 335<li class="listitem"> 336 <a class="ulink" href="../people/core.html" target="_top">The NetBSD Core Group</a> 337 </li> 338<li class="listitem"> 339 <a class="ulink" href="../foundation/" target="_top">The NetBSD Foundation, Inc.</a> 340 </li> 341<li class="listitem"> 342 <a class="ulink" href="../people/port-maintainers.html" target="_top">The NetBSD Port Maintainers</a> 343 </li> 344<li class="listitem"> 345 <a class="ulink" href="../people/groups/" target="_top">Other Groups within the NetBSD Project</a> 346 </li> 347<li class="listitem"> 348<a class="ulink" href="../donations/#contributors" target="_top">Organisations and 349 people that have made donations or loans to NetBSD</a> 350 </li> 351</ul></div> 352 353 <p> 354 Additionally, without the University of California, Berkeley's 355 <a class="ulink" href="../people/CSRG-contrib.html" target="_top">Computer Systems Research Group and the 356 many contributors to the Berkeley Software Distributions</a>, 357 the NetBSD Project surely would not exist. We thank them for 358 their efforts. 359 </p> 360 361 <p> 362 The <a class="ulink" href="../foundation/" target="_top">NetBSD Foundation</a> 363 is incorporated in the United States as a tax-exempt corporation 364 (under Section 501(c)(3) of the US Internal Revenue Code) 365 that devotes itself to the traditional goals and spirit 366 of the NetBSD Project and owns the trademark of the word 367 <span class="quote">â<span class="quote">NetBSD</span>â</span>. 368 </p> 369 370</div> 371</div></div></div> 372<div class="navfoot"></div> 373<div id="footer"><div id="footerContent"> 374<span class="footfeed"><a href="//www.NetBSD.org/cgi-bin/feedback.cgi"> 375 Contact</a> | 376 </span><span class="footcopy"><a href="../about/disclaimer.html"> 377 Disclaimer</a> | 378 379 <span class="copyright">Copyright © 1994-2026 The NetBSD Foundation, Inc. </span>ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.<br>NetBSD<sup>®</sup> is a registered trademark of The NetBSD 380 Foundation, Inc.</span> 381</div></div> 382</div></body> 383</html>
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