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+ + Building Products with FreeBSD + + + Joseph + Koshy + + The FreeBSD Project +
jkoshy@FreeBSD.org
+ + + + + $FreeBSD$ + + + &tm-attrib.freebsd; + &tm-attrib.general; + + + + Abstract + + The FreeBSD project is a worldwide, voluntary, and + collaborative project developing a portable and high-quality + operating system. The FreeBSD project distributes the source + code for its product under a liberal license, with the + intention of encouraging the use of its code. Collaborating + with the FreeBSD project can help organizations reduce their + time to market, reduce engineering costs and improve their + product quality. + + This article examines the issues in using FreeBSD code in + appliances and software products. It highlights the + characteristics of FreeBSD that make it an excellent substrate + for product development. The article concludes by suggesting a + few best practices for organizations + collaborating with the FreeBSD project. + + + + + Introduction + + FreeBSD today is well-known as a high-performance server + operating system. It is deployed on millions of web servers and + internet-facing hosts worldwide. FreeBSD code also forms an + integral part of many products, ranging from appliances such as + network routers, firewalls, and storage devices, to personal + computers. Portions of FreeBSD have also been used in + commercial shrink-wrapped software (see + ). + + In this article we look at the FreeBSD project as a software + engineering resource—as a collection of building blocks + and processes which you can use to build products. + + While FreeBSD's source is distributed freely to the public, + to fully enjoy the benefits of the project's work, organizations + need to collaborate with the project. In + subsequent sections of this article we discuss effective means + of collaboration with the project and the pitfalls that need to + be avoided while doing so. + + + Target Audience + This document would be of interest to the following broad + groups of people: + + + Decision makers in product companies looking at + ways to improve their product quality, reduce their time + to market and lower engineering costs in the long + term. + + + Technology consultants looking for best-practices + in leveraging open-source. + + + Industry observers interested in understanding the + dynamics of open-source projects. + + + Software developers seeking to use FreeBSD and + looking for ways to contribute back. + + + + + + Article Goals + After reading this article you should have: + + + An understanding of the goals of the FreeBSD + Project and its organizational structure. + + + An overview of the available technology in the + project. + + + An understanding of its development model and + release engineering processes. + + + An understanding of how conventional corporate + software development processes differ from that used in + the FreeBSD project. + + + Awareness of the communication channels used by the + project and the level of transparency you can + expect. + + + Awareness of optimal ways of working with the + project—how best to reduce engineering costs, + improve time to market, manage security vulnerabilities, + and preserve future compatibility with your product as the + FreeBSD project evolves. + + + + + + Article Structure + The rest of the article is structured as follows: + + + introduces the + FreeBSD project, explores its organizational structure, + key technologies and release engineering + processes. + + + describes + ways to collaborate with the FreeBSD project. It examines + common pitfalls encountered by corporates working with + voluntary projects like FreeBSD. + + + concludes. + + + + + + + FreeBSD as a set of building blocks + + FreeBSD makes an excellent foundation on which to build + products: + + + + FreeBSD source code is distributed under a liberal + BSD license facilitating its adoption in commercial products + Mon2005 with the minimum of hassle. + + + The FreeBSD project has excellent engineering + practices that can be leveraged. + + + The project offers exceptional transparency into its + workings, allowing organizations using its code to plan + effectively for the future. + + + The culture of the FreeBSD project, carried over from + the Computer Science Research Group at The University of + California, Berkeley, fosters high-quality work. Some + features in FreeBSD define the state of the art. + + + + For organizations, the benefits of using FreeBSD + components in their products include a shorter time to market, + lower development costs and lower development risks. + + + Building with FreeBSD + + Here are a few ways organizations have used + FreeBSD: + + + + As an upstream source for tested code for libraries + and utilities. + By being downstream of the project, + organizations leverage the new features, bug fixes and + testing that the upstream code receives. + + + As an embedded OS (for example, for an OEM router + and firewall device). In this model, organizations use a + customized FreeBSD kernel and application program set + along with a proprietary management layer for their + device. OEMs benefit from new hardware support being added + by the FreeBSD project upstream, and from the testing that + the base system receives. + FreeBSD ships with a self-hosting development + environment that allows easy creation of such + configurations. + + + As a Unix compatible environment for the management + functions of high-end storage and networking devices, + running on a separate processor 'blade'. + FreeBSD provides the tools for creating dedicated + OS and application program images. Its implementation of + a BSD unix API is mature and tested. FreeBSD can also + provide a stable cross-development environment for the + other components of the high-end device. + + + As a vehicle to get widespread testing and support + from a worldwide team of developers for non-critical + intellectual property. + In this model, organizations contribute useful + infrastructural frameworks to the FreeBSD project (for + example, see &man.netgraph.3;). The widespread + exposure that the code gets helps to quickly identify + performance issues and bugs. The involvement of + top-notch developers also leads to useful extensions to + the infrastructure that the contributing organization also + benefits from. + + + + As a development environment supporting + cross-development for embedded OSes like RTEMS and eCOS. + There are many full-fledged development environments + in the 13,000-strong collection of applications ported and + packaged with FreeBSD. + + + + As a way to support a Unix-like API in an otherwise + proprietary OS, increasing its palatability for + application developers. + Here parts of FreeBSD's kernel and application + programs are ported to run alongside + other tasks in the proprietary OS. The availability of a + stable and well tested Unix API + implementation can reduce the effort needed to port + popular applications to the proprietary OS. As FreeBSD + ships with high-quality documentation for its internals + and has effective vulnerability management and release + engineering processes, the costs of keeping upto-date are + kept low. + + + + + + Technologies + + There are a large number of technologies supported by the + FreeBSD project. A selection of these are listed + below: + + + + A complete system that can cross-host itself for + the following architectures: alpha, amd64, ia64, i386, + sparc64, powerpc (see &man.build.7;). + + + Support for the following technologies, protocols + and standards: + ATA, ATAPI, + ATM, Bluetooth, + CAM, CardBus, + DHCP, DNS, + EISA, + Ethernet, FDDI, + Fibre Channel, GPIB, IEEE 1394, IPv4, + IPv6, IPSEC, + IPX, ISDN, + MAC, NIS, + NFS, OpenSSH, OPIE, + PAM, PCI, + PCMCIA, POSIX, + PnP, RAID, + RPC, SATA, + SCSI, SMB, + TCP, USB, + VESA, VLAN, + VLB, + WebNFS. + + + A modular symmetric multiprocessing capable kernel, + with loadable kernel modules and a flexible and easy to + use configuration system. + + + Support for emulation of + Linux and SVR4 binaries at near + machine speeds. Support for binary + Windows (NDIS) + network drivers. + + + Libraries for many programming tasks: archivers, + FTP and HTTP support, thread support, in addition to a + full POSIX like programming + environment. + + + Advanced security features: Mandatory Access + Control (&man.mac.9;), jails (&man.jail.2;), + ACLs, and in-kernel + cryptographic device support. + + + Advanced networking features: firewall-ing, QoS + management, high-performance TCP/IP networking with + support for many advanced features. + FreeBSD's in-kernel Netgraph (&man.netgraph.4;) + framework allows kernel networking modules to be connected + together in flexible ways. + + + Support for advanced storage technologies: Fibre + Channel, SCSI, software and hardware + RAID, ATA and + SATA. + FreeBSD supports a number of filesystems, and its + native UFS2 filesystem supports soft updates, snapshots and + very large filesystem sizes (16TB per filesystem) + McKu1999. + FreeBSD's in-kernel GEOM (&man.geom.4;) + framework allows kernel storage modules to be + composed in flexible ways. + + + Over 13,000 ported applications, both commercial + and open-source, managed via the FreeBSD ports + collection. + + + + + + Organizational Structure + FreeBSD's organizational structure is + non-hierarchical. + + There are essentially two kinds of contributors to + FreeBSD, general users of FreeBSD, and developers with write + access (known as committers in the + jargon) to the source base. + + There are many thousands of contributors in the first + group; the vast majority of contributions to FreeBSD come from + individuals in this group. Commit rights (write access) to + the repository are granted to individuals who contribute + consistently to the project. Commit rights come with + additional responsibilities, and new committers are assigned + mentors to help them learn the ropes. + + Conflict resolution is performed by a nine member + Core Team that is elected from the group of + committers. + + FreeBSD does not have corporate committers. + Individual committers are required to take responsibility for + the changes they introduce to the code. The FreeBSD Committer's + guide ComGuide documents the + rules and responsibilities for committers. + + FreeBSD's project model is examined in detail in + Nik2005. + + + + FreeBSD Release Engineering Processes + + FreeBSD's release engineering processes play a major role + in ensuring that its released versions are of a high quality. + At any point of time, FreeBSD's volunteers support multiple + code lines (): + + + + New features and disruptive code enters on the + development branch, also known as the + -CURRENT branch. + + + -STABLE branches are code + lines that are branched from HEAD at regular intervals. + Only tested code is allowed onto a -STABLE branch. New + features are allowed once they have been tested and + stabilized in the -CURRENT branch. + + + -RELEASE branches are + maintained by the FreeBSD security team. Only bug fixes + for critical issues are permitted onto -RELEASE + branches. + + + +
+ FreeBSD Release Branches + + + + + +
+ + Code lines are kept alive for as long as there is user and + developer interest in them. + + Machine architectures are grouped into + tiers; Tier 1 + architectures are fully supported by the project's release + engineering and security teams, Tier 2 + architectures are supported on a best effort basis, and + experimental architectures comprise Tier + 3. The list of supported + architectures is part of the FreeBSD documentation + collection. + + The release engineering team publishes a road map for future + releases of FreeBSD on the project's web site. The dates laid + down in the road map are not deadlines; FreeBSD is released + when its code and documentation are ready. + + FreeBSD's release engineering processes are described in + RelEngDoc. + + + + + + Collaborating with FreeBSD + + Open-source projects like FreeBSD offer finished code of a + very high quality Cov2005. Previous + studies have examined the effect of source code availability on + software development Com2004. + + While access to quality source code can reduce the cost of + initial development, in the long-term the costs of managing + change begin to dominate. As computing environments change over + the years and new security vulnerabilities are discovered, your + product too needs to change and adapt. Using open-source code is + best viewed not as a one-off activity, but as an + ongoing process. The best projects to + collaborate with are the ones that are + live; i.e., with an active community, clear + goals and a transparent working style. + + + + FreeBSD has an active developer community around it. + At the time of writing there are many thousands of + contributors from every populated continent in the world and + over 300 individuals with write access to the project's + source repositories. + + + The goals of the FreeBSD project are + Hub1994: + + + To develop a high-quality operating system for + popular computer hardware, and, + + + To make our work available to all under a liberal + license. + + + + + FreeBSD enjoys an open and transparent working + culture. Nearly all discussion in the project happens by + email, on public mailing + lists that are also archived for posterity. The + project's policies are documented + and maintained under revision control. Participation in the + project is open to all. + + + + + Understanding FreeBSD culture + + To be able to work effectively with the FreeBSD project, + you need to understand the project's culture. + + Volunteer driven projects operate under different rules + than for-profit corporates. A common mistake that companies + make when venturing into the open-source world is that of + underplaying these differences. + + + + Motivation + + Most contributions to FreeBSD are done voluntarily + without monetary rewards entering the picture. The factors + that motivate individuals are complex, ranging from + altruism, to an interest in solving the kinds of problems + that FreeBSD attempts to solve. In this environment, + elegance is never optional + Nor1993. + + + + The Long Term View + FreeBSD traces its roots back nearly twenty years to the + work of the Computer Science Research Group at the + University of California Berkeley. + FreeBSD's source + repository contains a history of the project + since its inception, and there are CDROMs + available that contain earlier code from the + CSRG. + A number of the original CSRG developers remain + associated with the project. + + + The project values long-term perspectives + Nor2001. A frequent acronym encountered + in the project is DTRT, which stands for + Do The Right Thing. + + + Development Processes + Computer programs are tools for communication: at one + level programmers communicate their intentions using a + precise notation to a tool (a compiler) that translates + their instructions to executable code. At another level, + the same notation is used for communication of intent + between two programmers. + + + Formal specifications and design documents are seldom used + in the project. Clear and well-written code and well-written + change logs () are used in + their place. FreeBSD development happens by rough + consensus and running code + Carp1996. + +
+ A sample change log entry + +bde 2005-10-29 16:34:50 UTC + + FreeBSD src repository + + Modified files: + lib/msun/src e_rem_pio2f.c + Log: + Use double precision to simplify and optimize arg reduction for small + and medium size args too: instead of conditionally subtracting a float + 17+24, 17+17+24 or 17+17+17+24 bit approximation to pi/2, always + subtract a double 33+53 bit one. The float version is now closer to + the double version than to old versions of itself — it uses the same + 33+53 bit approximation as the simplest cases in the double version, + and where the float version had to switch to the slow general case at + |x| == 2^7*pi/2, it now switches at |x| == 2^19*pi/2 the same as the + double version. + + This speeds up arg reduction by a factor of 2 for |x| between 3*pi/4 and + 2^7*pi/4, and by a factor of 7 for |x| between 2^7*pi/4 and 2^19*pi/4. + + Revision Changes Path + 1.14 +22 -97 src/lib/msun/src/e_rem_pio2f.c + +
+ + Communication between programmers is enhanced by the + use of a common coding standard &man.style.9;. + + + Communication Channels + FreeBSD's contributors are spread across the world. + Email (and to a lesser extent, IRC) is the preferred means + of communication in the project. + + + + + Best Practices for collaborating with the FreeBSD + project + + We now look at a few best practices for making the best + use of FreeBSD in product development. + + + + Plan for the long term + + Setup processes that help in tracking the development of + FreeBSD. For example: + + Track FreeBSD source code + The project makes it easy to mirror its CVS + repository using CVSup. Having + the complete history of the source is useful when + debugging complex problems and offers valuable insight + into the intentions of the original developers. Use a + capable source control system that allows you to + easily merge changes between the upstream FreeBSD code + base and your own in-house code. + + shows a portion of + an annotated listing of the file referenced by the + change log in . The + ancestry of each line of the source is clearly visible. + Annotated listings showing the history of every file + that is part of FreeBSD are available on the + web. +
+ An annotated source listing generated using <command>cvs annotate</command> + +#LINE #REV #WHO #DATE #TEXT + +62 1.1 (jkh 19-Aug-94): int32_t __ieee754_rem_pio2f(float x, float *y) +63 1.1 (jkh 19-Aug-94): { +64 1.14 (bde 29-Oct-05): double z,w,t,r,fn; +65 1.13 (bde 29-Oct-05): double tx[3]; +66 1.14 (bde 29-Oct-05): int32_t e0,i,nx,n,ix,hx; +67 1.1 (jkh 19-Aug-94): +68 1.1 (jkh 19-Aug-94): GET_FLOAT_WORD(hx,x); +69 1.1 (jkh 19-Aug-94): ix = hx&0x7fffffff; +70 1.1 (jkh 19-Aug-94): if(ix<=0x3f490fd8) /* |x| ~<= pi/4 , no need for reduction */ +71 1.1 (jkh 19-Aug-94): {y[0] = x; y[1] = 0; return 0;} +72 1.14 (bde 29-Oct-05): /* 33+53 bit pi is good enough for special and medium size cases */ +73 1.2 (bde 07-Apr-95): if(ix<0x4016cbe4) { /* |x| < 3pi/4, special case with n=+-1 */ +74 1.14 (bde 29-Oct-05): if(hx>0) { +75 1.15 (bde 06-Nov-05): z = x - pio2; +76 1.15 (bde 06-Nov-05): n = 1; +77 1.15 (bde 06-Nov-05): } else { +78 1.15 (bde 06-Nov-05): z = x + pio2; +79 1.15 (bde 06-Nov-05): n = 3; +80 1.9 (bde 08-Oct-05): } +81 1.15 (bde 06-Nov-05): y[0] = z; +82 1.15 (bde 06-Nov-05): y[1] = z - y[0]; +83 1.15 (bde 06-Nov-05): return n; +84 1.15 (bde 06-Nov-05): } +85 1.15 (bde 06-Nov-05): if(ix<0x407b53d1) { /* |x| < 5*pi/4, special case with n=+-2 */ + +
+ + + Use a gatekeeper + Appoint a gatekeeper to + monitor FreeBSD development, to keep an eye out for + changes that could potentially impact your + products. + + + Report bugs upstream + If you notice bug in the FreeBSD code that you are + using, file a bug + report. This step helps ensure that you do + not have to fix the bug the next time you take a code + drop from upstream. + + + + + + Leverage FreeBSD's release engineering efforts + + Use code from a -STABLE development branch of + FreeBSD. These development branches are formally + supported by FreeBSD's release engineering and security + teams and comprise of tested code. + + + + + + Donate code to reduce costs + + A major proportion of the costs associated with + developing products is that of doing maintenance. By + donating non-critical code to the project, you benefit + by having your code see much wider exposure than it + would otherwise get. This in turn leads to more bugs + and security vulnerabilities being flushed out and + performance anomalies being identified and fixed. + + + + + + Get support effectively + + For products with tight deadlines, it is + recommended that you hire or enter into a consulting + agreement with a developer or firm with FreeBSD + experience. The &a.jobs; is a useful communication + channel to find talent. The FreeBSD project maintains a + gallery + of consultants and consulting firms + undertaking FreeBSD work. The BSD + Certification Group offers certification for + all the major BSD derived OSes. + + For less critical needs, you can ask for help on + the project + mailing lists. A useful guide to follow when + asking for help is given in + Ray2004. + + + + + + Publicize your involvement + + You are not required to publicize your use of + FreeBSD, but doing so helps both your effort as well as + that of the project. + Letting the FreeBSD community know that your + company uses FreeBSD helps improve your chances of + attracting high quality talent. A large roster of + support for FreeBSD also means more mind share for it + among developers. This in turn yields a healthier + foundation for your future. + + + + + Support FreeBSD developers + + Sometimes the most direct way to get a desired + feature into FreeBSD is to find a developer who is + already looking at the problem to support. Help can + range from hardware donations to direct financial + assistance. In some countries, donations to the FreeBSD + project enjoy tax benefits. The project has a dedicated + donations + liaison to assist donors. The project + maintains a web page where developers list their + needs. + + As a policy the FreeBSD project acknowledges + all contributions received on its web site. + + + + + + + + Conclusion + The FreeBSD project's goals are to create and give away the + source code for a high-quality operating system. By working + with the FreeBSD project you can reduce development costs and + improve your time to market in a number of product development + scenarios. + We examined the characteristics of the FreeBSD project that + make it an excellent choice for being part of an organization's + product strategy. We then looked at the prevailing culture of + the project and examined effective ways of interacting with its + developers. The article concluded with a list of best-practices + that could help organizations collaborating with the + project. + + + + + Carp1996 + The + Architectural Principles of the Internet + + B. + Carpenter + + The Internet Architecture Board + + + + 1996 + + + + Com2004 + How + is Open-Source Affecting Software + Development? + + + Diomidis + Spinellis + + + Clemens + Szyperski + + + IEEE Computer + + Jan/Feb 2004 + + + IEEE Computer Society + + + + ComGuide + Committer's + Guide + + The FreeBSD Project + + + 2005 + + + + Cov2005 + Coverity + study on kernel security holes in Linux and FreeBSD + + Coverity Inc. + + + 2005 + + + + + Hub1994 + Contributing + to the FreeBSD Project + + Jordan + Hubbard + + + 1994—2005 + + + The FreeBSD Project + + + + McKu1999 + Soft + Updates: A Technique for Eliminating Most Synchronous Writes + in the Fast Filesystem + + + Kirk + McKusick + + + Gregory + Ganger + + + + USENIX Annual Technical Conference + + + 1999 + + + + Mon2005 + Why you should + use a BSD style license for your Open Source + Project + + Bruce + Montague + + + The FreeBSD Project + + + 2005 + + + + Nik2005 + A + project model for the FreeBSD Project + + Niklas + Saers + + + 2005 + + + The FreeBSD Project + + + + Nor1993 + Tutorial + on Good Lisp Programming Style + + + Peter + Norvig + + + Kent + Pitman + + + + 1993 + + + + Nor2001 + Teach + Yourself Programming in Ten Years + + Peter + Norvig + + + 2001 + + + + Ray2004 + How + to ask questions the smart way + + + Eric Steven + Raymond + + + + 2004 + + + + RelEngDoc + FreeBSD Release + Engineering + + Murray + Stokely + + + 2001 + + + The FreeBSD Project + + + + +