FreeBSD Journal – 2024/11-12 – Virtualization | Hacker News Reader

FreeBSD Journal – 2024/11-12 – Virtualization

freebsdfoundation.org

6 pointsvermaden4 comments

If Apple contributed just a couple millions a year to the FreeBSD Foundation, out of all the profits it makes using that operating system, it would have been in a completely different shape. More devs could have been employed to solve all past issues and add new features.

I despise Apple so much for being such greedy and retarded jerks.

Apple uses bits and pieces of BSD. macOS is not "FreeBSD". Quoting from Mac OS X and iOS Internals by Jonathan Levin:

"On top of Mach, but still an inseparable part of XNU, is the BSD layer. This layer presents a solid and more modern API that provides the POSIX compatibility discussed earlier. The BSD layer provides higher-level abstractions, including, among others:

‰ The UNIX Process model

‰ The POSIX threading model (Pthread) and its related synchronization primitives

‰ UNIX Users and Groups

‰ The Network stack (BSD Socket API)

‰ File system access

‰ Device access (through the /dev directory)

XNU’s BSD implementation is largely compatible with FreeBSD’s, but does have some noteworthy changes. After covering Mach, this book turns to BSD, focusing on the implementations of the BSD core, and providing specific detail about the virtual file system switch and the networking stack in dedicated chapters."

I don't disagree with Apple providing funding, however the BSD license doesn't require it. Many of the original Windows userland network utilities came directly from BSD, as well.

At least they sponsor some of the work:

Check all the 'Sponsored by: Apple Inc.' commit messages here:

https://freshbsd.org/?q=sponsored+by+apple+inc

They "sponsor the work" because the work is already done. Apple would only be creating more headache for themselves down the line trying to refactor FreeBSD patches that don't include their upstream code. By paying other developers to publish their work, they effectively launder the responsibility of maintaining to their code to the community.

It's a pittance. Like complimenting Google for all their "generous" contributions to the Chromium project even though Chrome is used as an accessory for the AdSense monopoly.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com