Rebuilding the OpenBSD Kernel
by Brad Schonhorst

The kernel is the core of the operating system. It is the binary file that the computer loads first and stores in memory. Because it is stored in memory, the kernel needs to be as small as possible. The kernel usually lives in the root directory ('/') and by default is called 'bsd'.

Users who want their OpenBSD machine to perform specific functions or need additional device drivers might want to customize their kernel. In other OS's, like some types of Linux, it is very popular to rebuild the kernel because the default is so bloated. For most users, the default OpenBSD kernel is sufficient; however, you should still apply kernel patches, which will require rebuilding and installing a fresh kernel. Read More

NetBSD Logo Contest
by Christian von Kleist

The old NetBSD logo was well-known in the BSD world and pretty well-loved. I liked it a lot. The symbolism in the old logo was unmistakable: A bunch of little daemon processes doing something significant on a hodgepodge of old, broken, and diverse hardware. The problems with the logo are obvious too: the pen sketch is hard to reproduce, doesn't scale well, and its ragged edges don't look professional; there's way too much going on at once; and most people assume that d(a)emons are evil. Read More

UFS2 Filesystem Snapshots
by Ralf S. Engelschall

The FreeBSD 5 UFS2 filesystem provides the possibility to create snapshots of live filesystems. It is already best known (and can be easily used) for allowing fsck(8) to run in the background (see rc.conf variable background_fsck) and to create consistent filesystem dumps (see dump(8) option -L).

Additionally, with the help of md(4) and mdconfig(8) you can mount snapshots as read-only filesystems, too. Read More

FreeBSD Applications Part II
by Richard Bejtlich

An important system administration task, and a principle of running a defensible network, is keeping operating systems and applications up-to-date. Running current software is critical when older services are vulnerable to exploitation. Obtaining new features not found in older applications is another reason to run current software. Fortunately, open source software offers a variety of means to give users a secure, capable computing environment. Read More

Daemon's Advocate
by Scott Long and Robert Watson

There has been a lot of recent talk and advocacy for NetBSD 2.0 from the NetBSD team. Most recently there were a series of articles posted by Chritos Zoulas describing why NetBSD is relevant and why it's a better choice than either FreeBSD or OpenBSD. While I strongly applaud the accomplishments of the NetBSD team and happily agree that NetBSD 2.0 is a strong step forward for them, I take a bit of exception to many of their claims and much of their criticisms of FreeBSD. Read More