Build a Distro using FreeBSD?

[Matthew Seaman]

On 22/11/2012 18:20, Ron Blake wrote:
> I wanna make a distro but linux is too buggy for me so i thought
> about FreeBSD how do i go about building my own distro? Also are we
> allowed to make custom distros using FreeBSD please get back to me
> with info on building a custom distro using FreeBSD thanks.

Sure, you can make your own 'distro' based on FreeBSD if you want, and
distribute it under whatever terms you like.  The BSD license is very
liberal in this regard: more so than the GPL even.

However, a 'distro' is a Linux concept that doesn't really apply very
well to FreeBSD.  We have a base system incorporating kernel, system
libraries and all essential applications already: there's no need to
gather all those things together to distribute to end users.

There are disto-like things in BSD-land: PC-BSD and pfsense are a couple
of interesting examples.  These are essentially FreeBSD plus various
additional software packages tuned for specific purposes (desktop usage
in the case of PC-BSD, firewalls for pfsense) and it's this sort of
value-added system built on top of the basic FreeBSD OS that is most
likely to be successful as a distribution.

If you still want to create your own distro, start by learning how to
make your own customized install media.  See the release(7) man page for
starters, but you'll have to put some work in to come up anything
significantly above and beyond the standard base system.  It's not
something you can just sling together in an afternoon...

	Cheers,

	Matthew

-- 
Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil.
PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey


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