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Mailing lists

Mailing lists are the primary communication channels for the FreeBSD community, and cover many topic areas. Depending on the charter of each individual list, it may be more oriented to developers or to FreeBSD users. Please read the charter of a mailing list before you post to it, and respect it when you post. The complete list of mailing list charters is here.

When in doubt about what list to post a question to, see How to get best results from the FreeBSD-questions mailing list.

Before posting to any list, please learn about how to best use the mailing lists, such as how to help avoid frequently-repeated discussions, by reading the Mailing List Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document.

To get an up to the minute view of the mailing lists available or to subscribe to a mailing list, use FreeBSD.org's Mailman web interface. All mailman lists are available in a digest format and have threaded archives available. See the individual list's web page for details.

Mailing list archives

You can search or browse the mailing list archives at www.FreeBSD.org. It is also possible to browse the mailing lists via Mailman webinterface.

Non-English Mailing lists

Several non-English mailing lists are also available:

If you create other FreeBSD mailing lists, let us know about them.

Newsgroups

There are a few FreeBSD specific newsgroups, along with numerous other newsgroups on topics of interest to FreeBSD users, though the mailing lists remain the most reliable way to get in touch with the FreeBSD developers. For miscellaneous FreeBSD discussion, see comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc. For important announcements, see comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.announce.

The BSD Usenet News Searcher have archives of all BSD-related Usenet newsgroups from June 1992 onwards.

IRC

While #freebsd channels exist on various IRC networks, the FreeBSD project does not control them or endorse IRC as a support medium. You may be ignored, insulted, or kicked out if you ask questions on any channel in IRC, though you may have slightly better luck in channels named #freebsdhelp where such exist. If you want to try these or any other channels on IRC, it is nonetheless at your own risk and any complaints about conduct on those channels should not be directed to the FreeBSD project. See also the FAQ entry for more information.

Web Resources

Problem Report Database

Current FreeBSD problem reports are tracked using the GNATS database.

A FreeBSD problem report (PR) is not necessarily a bug with FreeBSD itself. In some cases it may be reporting a mistake in the documentation (which could be a simple typo). In other cases it may be a 'wishlist' item that the submitter would like to see incorporated in to FreeBSD. In many cases a PR contains a port which has been prepared for inclusion in the FreeBSD Ports and Packages collection.

Problem reports start 'open', and are closed as the issue they report is resolved. In addition, each PR is assigned a unique tracking ID to ensure that it is not lost. Many FreeBSD changes include the tracking ID of the PR that prompted the change.

Problem reports may also be submitted to the development team using the send-pr(1) command on a FreeBSD system, or by sending an email message to freebsd-bugs@FreeBSD.org. Please note that send-pr is preferred since messages sent to the mailing list are not tracked as official problem reports, and may get lost in the noise!

Before submitting a problem report, you might find it useful to read the Writing FreeBSD Problem Reports article. This article describes when you should submit a problem report, what you are expected to include in one, and what the best way to submit your problem report is. Some useful background information is also contained in the Problem Report Handling Guidelines article.

CVS Repository

CVS (the Concurrent Version System) is the tool we use for keeping our sources under control. Every change (with accompanying log message explaining its purpose) from FreeBSD 2.0 to the present is stored here. It can be easily viewed from the web interface mentioned below. To obtain a complete copy of the FreeBSD CVS repository or any of the development branches inside it, you may choose any one of following options:

Mirrors of the CVS Repository cgi script are available in Germany, Japan, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, USA/California and Ukraine.

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User Groups

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FreeBSD User Groups

FreeBSD's widespread popularity has spawned a number of user groups around the world. If you know of a FreeBSD user group not listed here, let us know about it.

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Australia

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Europe

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North America

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Rest of the world

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FreeBSD Development Projects

In addition to the mainstream development path of FreeBSD, a number of developer groups are working on the cutting edge to expand FreeBSD's range of applications in new directions.

FreeBSD Security Guide

Security resources available to FreeBSD users: PGP Key for Security Officers, advisories, patches and mailing lists.

Commercial Consulting Services

Whether you are just starting out with FreeBSD, or need to complete a large project, a consultant or two might be your answer.

General &unix; Information

The X Window System

Hardware

Related Operating System Projects

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