https://github.com/pavetheway91/tarbsd

tarBSD is a minimal (well, depends on chosen features and packages) FreeBSD image that boots to memory. Most of it is stored in a tar archive mounted at /usr. tarBSD is not a distribution unto itself. Instead, this repository gives you a tool to build your own version of it.

FreeBSD 15.0 Aims To Have A KDE Desktop Install Option

"For FreeBSD 15.0, our goal is to extend the FreeBSD installer to offer a minimal KDE-based desktop as an install option. The initial concept is a low-interaction installation process that, upon completion, brings the user directly to a KDE graphical login screen.

We are currently evaluating the required pkg dependencies to automatically select appropriate graphics drivers."

read more at:
https://www.phoronix.com/news/FreeBSD-15-KDE-Install-Plan
https://github.com/FreeBSDFoundation/proj-laptop/blob/main/monthly-updates/2025-06.md#kde-desktop-installer-option
https://github.com/FreeBSDFoundation/proj-laptop/issues/25
https://lists.freebsd.org/archives/freebsd-desktop/2025-March/005621.html

https://github.com/freebsd/atf

ATF, or Automated Testing Framework, is a collection of libraries to write test programs in C, C++ and POSIX shell.

The ATF libraries offer a simple API. The API is orthogonal through the various bindings, allowing developers to quickly learn how to write test programs in different languages.

ATF-based test programs offer a consistent end-user command-line interface to allow both humans and automation to run the tests.

Sleep on FreeBSD: A bedtime story about S0ix

One of the main things still missing in FreeBSD for it to be usable on modern laptops is the ability to go to sleep. In the past, this was done using ACPI S3, but newer laptops have removed this in favour of S0ix, leaving FreeBSD without support for suspend on those machines.

This talk aims to get the casual user familiar enough with the terms and concepts behind power management, such that they can understand what's going on, what's already possible, what can be done, and be able to narrow down power management issues they might encounter.

A packet's journey through pf By Kristof Provost

A walkthrough of a packet's journey through (FreeBSD's) pf, concentrating on the big picture and its implications.

We'll cover when packets are inspected, when rules are evaluated and how states are used. Along the way we'll cover what DTrace probes can show us, what some of pfctl's counters mean and just how many times pf can look at a single packet.

This talk is intended for firewall admins looking for a deeper understanding and aspiring pf developers. It is not a "How to use pf" talk.

https://fosdem.org/2025/events/attachments/fosdem-2025-4306-a-packet-s-journey-through-pf/slides/238212/presentat_GzZfyhT.pdf

Linux Adding Detection For BSD's Bhyve Hypervisor

Read more at:
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/tip.git/commit/?id=215596ddc33f20945e8d1188a7e682831f0ef050

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-Bhyve-Detection

VCF East: UNIX: A History and a Memoir by Brian Kernighan

Brian Kernighan talks about the history of UNIX and promotes his 2019 book.

Kernighan shared his thoughts on what he thinks of the world today — with its push away from C to more memory-safe programming languages, its hundreds of distributions of Linux — and with descendants of Unix powering nearly every cellphone.
written article: https://thenewstack.io/unix-co-creator-brian-kernighan-on-rust-distros-and-nixos/

video source: yt

Build Secure FreeBSD Containers in 5 Minutes

Enter jails. The lightweight answer to containerisation, that’s been around for a long time before Docker became trendy.

https://freebsdfoundation.org/blog/freebsd-jails-are-simple-and-easy/

FreeBSD 15.0-ALPHA1 Now Available

The first alpha build of the 15.0-RELEASE release cycle is now available.

read more at:
- https://lists.freebsd.org/archives/freebsd-snapshots/2025-September/000624.html

- https://www.freebsd.org/releases/15.0R/schedule/

- https://www.freebsd.org/releases/15.0R/relnotes/

Download:
https://download.freebsd.org/releases/ISO-IMAGES/15.0/

FreeBSD Foundation Q2 2025 Status Update

Here are some of the ways we supported FreeBSD in the second quarter of 2025.

https://freebsdfoundation.org/blog/freebsd-foundation-q2-2025-status-update/

WSL for FreeBSD
https://github.com/BalajeS/WSL-For-FreeBSD

Experimental project to adapt the WSL2 open-source components to run on FreeBSD

FreeBSD 15.0-BETA1 Now Available

A summary of changes since ALPHA5 includes:

- OpenZFS upgraded to 2.4.0 rc2
- Various fixes to "no-root" release building
- Various fixes to the process for building OCI container images
- Various fixes to the process for building VM and cloud images
- A performance fix for TCP LRO on some network interfaces
- A build fix for the published pkgbase-repo.tar files
- ahci no longer fails to attach if MSI-X BARs cannot be allocated

release notes https://www.freebsd.org/releases/15.0R/relnotes/

read more at
https://lists.freebsd.org/archives/freebsd-stable/2025-October/003383.html

FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE (12/2/25)

Some of the highlights:

- The FreeBSD "base" system can now be installed and managed using the pkg(8) package manager (see "Packaged base system" below).

- The FreeBSD 15.0 release artifacts (install images, VM images, etc.) were all generated without requiring root privilege.

- FreeBSD now has a native inotify implementation, simplifying directory watching and software porting.

- OpenZFS has been upgraded to 2.4.0-rc4.

- OpenSSL has been upgraded to the latest long-term support (LTS) version, 3.5.4, which includes support for QUIC and now standardized quantum-resistant algorithms, ML-KEM, ML-DSA, and SLH-DSA.

- OpenSSH has been upgraded to 10.0p2 which includes support for quantum-resistant key agreement by default.

For a complete list of new features, supported hardware, and known problems:
- https://www.FreeBSD.org/releases/15.0R/relnotes/
- https://www.FreeBSD.org/releases/15.0R/hardware/
- https://www.FreeBSD.org/releases/15.0R/errata/

BVCP Native webadmin / control panel for FreeBSD Bhyve

https://bhyve.npulse.net/

x11/xlibre officially in FreeBSD ports

Some things like third-party drivers and KDE still need some work, but we are looking forward to the 2026Q1 branch.

https://x.com/XLibreDev/status/1999558129235952088

https://x.com/vermaden/status/1999484591200256245

https://www.freshports.org/x11/xlibre/

Installing every window manager on FreeBSD

We asked you folks what window managers, or desktop environments, besides KDE you'd like us to try installing. So after sifting through over 400 comments, we arrived at a list of 10. In this video we try a neat little tool, available as a package, that makes installing them a simple job.

Check the handbook for more info too