Comparison of BSD operating systems: Difference between revisions

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[[NetBSD]] aims to provide a freely redistributable operating system that professionals, hobbyists, and researchers can use in any manner they wish. The main focus is [[software portability|portability]], through the use of clear distinctions between machine-dependent and machine-independent code. It runs on a wide variety of 32-bit and 64-bit processor architectures and hardware platforms, and is intended to interoperate well with other operating systems.

NetBSD places emphasis on correct design, well-written code, stability, and efficiency, where practical, close compliance with open API and protocol standards is also aimed for. NetBSD has very low hardware requirements and is well suited to be deployed in embedded applications ,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://yazzy.org/docs/NetBSD/Embedding_NetBSD.pdf |title=Embedding the NetBSD Operating author| author=Wasabi Systems Inc |access-date=8 February 2025}}</ref>, as well as revive vintage hardware .<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/10/netbsd_93/ |title=NetBSD 9.3: A 2022 OS that can run on late-1980s hardware | author=The Register |date=10 August 2022 |access-date=8 February 2025}}</ref>.

The NetBSD cross-compiling framework (also known as "build.sh"<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.netbsd.org/docs/guide/en/chap-build.html |title=Chapter 31. Crosscompiling NetBSD with build.sh |work=The NetBSD Guide |author=The NetBSD Foundation |date=10 January 2010 |access-date=15 January 2010}}</ref>) lets a developer build a complete NetBSD system for an architecture from a more powerful system of different architecture ([[cross-compiling]]), including on a different operating system.

Several security features are available in NetBSD,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://netbsd.gw.com/cgi-bin/man-cgi?security+8+NetBSD-current|title=NetBSD security(8) manual page}}</ref>, including IPsec, a homegrown firewall ([[NPF (firewall)|NPF]]), a file integrity system ([[Veriexec | Veriexec]]), a kernel authorization framework (kauth) ,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://man.netbsd.org/kauth.9 |title=kauth(9) |work=NetBSD Manual Pages |date=10 August 2009 |access-date=8 February 2025}}</ref>, a built-in kernel debugger and a number of exploit mitigations like W^X and ASLR.

In June 2008, the NetBSD Foundation moved to a two-clause BSD license, citing changes at UCB and industry applicability.<ref>{{cite web | date = 2006-01-08 | url = http://www.netbsd.org/Misc/about.html | title = About the NetBSD Project – What is the NetBSD project? | publisher = The NetBSD Foundation, Inc. | access-date = 2006-04-22}}</ref>