GhostBSD 26.1: FreeBSD desktop with XLibre and ZFS snapshots

Contents

GhostBSD, arguably the MATE/Xfce/Gershwin-based Ubuntu of the FreeBSD world, adopts all innovations and improvements from FreeBSD 15.0 Patchlevel 2 with version 26.1-15.0p2. This includes kernel extensions, security fixes, an updated toolset, and better hardware support. As it has received significant financial support from industry and, for example, the Sovereign Tech Fund in recent years, FreeBSD has made great strides in the development environment itself. FreeBSD users notice this clearly, for instance with notebooks, whose WLAN drivers now work much better and more performantly. As a pre-configured desktop system, GhostBSD 26.1 naturally benefits from this in particular. As a live system, started from a USB stick, GhostBSD 26.1 can be used on a significantly larger hardware base than before – even if it is still far from the universality of Windows or GNU/Linux.

Visible and invisible innovations

Under the live system or after the guided and simple installation of GhostBSD, typical BSD users will likely start a terminal window for administrative tasks relatively quickly. Here, GhostBSD 26.1 relies on the modern zsh, which offers some new features for former users of csh, tcsh, ksh, or bash. Those who don't like package management in the terminal via pkg(8) can use the Software Station as a graphical alternative under GhostBSD. It now also supports powerful FreeBSD functions such as a boot environment as a backup for version upgrades. Optimizations in package search make the software station noticeably faster than before. Thanks to integrated ZFS snapshots, you can easily start the previous version of the system after failed updates/upgrades by simply restarting.

GhostBSD 26.1 now also feels at home in larger corporate structures that regulate network access via WPA2-Enterprise. Instead of using just one access password for everyone, as with Personal WPA2 for the home and SOHO sector, WPA2-Enterprise can ensure the protection of sensitive data and a higher level of security through individual authentication per user (e.g., via RADIUS). Furthermore, to access company networks via VPN, VPNs can be configured via WireGuard in the graphical NetworkMGR.

Xlibre instead of Wayland

As announced, GhostBSD 26.1 has switched to XLibre as the default display server. In initial tests, the combination of GhostBSD, XLibre, and MATE, Xfce, and even Gershwin already works quite well. On an older ThinkPad W520, XLibre with MATE sometimes produced graphical glitches. Nevertheless, the dusty Xorg is no longer an option thanks to Red Hat's agenda to let it die in favor of its Linux/systemd/Wayland/GNOME monoculture, according to a report on the XLibre case. And after about 18 years of development, Wayland still does not support all functions and, due to its Linux-centricity, does not run smoothly on BSDs anyway (yet).

With GhostBSD, Wayland is still regularly evaluated and will certainly be selectable as an alternative when it eventually works satisfactorily. Apart from that, it is good for the entire open-source world that there is now a reasonably maintained alternative in the form of XLibre, and every user can freely decide for themselves what they want to use. Nevertheless, there is surprisingly sharp criticism from Wayland fans on the net as soon as XLibre is even mentioned.

Conclusion and Availability

A detailed list of all new features, extensions, and bug fixes is documented on the GitHub page of the GhostBSD project. All in all, GhostBSD 26.1 establishes itself in its small niche as a stylish and beginner-friendly pre-configured alternative to Windows, GNU/Linux, and macOS. Anyone who wants to get a taste of the BSD or, more precisely, the FreeBSD world can do so very conveniently with GhostBSD 26.1. And the developers always appreciate feedback and support – because GhostBSD 26.1 doesn't always run completely smoothly. The official GhostBSD 26.1-15.0p2 MATE ISO image (4.7 GByte) as well as the community ISO images for the Xfce and the “preview” Gershwin desktop are now available for free download on the project page.

(olb)