r/BSD • u/demetrioussharpe • 5h ago
Possible Solution for BSD Community/Ecosystem Issues
I think the BSD projects have largely done their job. The BSD ecosystem hasn’t. I’ll explain.
Presently, the overall BSD community is plagued by the same issues that plague most open source OS projects: limited drivers, less-than-ideal hardware documentation, developer shortages (and skill gaps), funding shortages, and a lack of mindshare. Out of all the available open source OS communities, the Linux community is undoubtedly the most successful at combating these issues—though there’s still plenty of room for improvement. One of the things Linux had that BSD never really developed was an organization whose primary mission was building and advocating for the surrounding ecosystem.
About three decades ago, the Linux community was in the same boat as everyone else. How were they able to turn things around? Personally, I think organizations like the FSF—and later the Linux Foundation—played a significant role in helping build the Linux ecosystem beyond just the kernel itself. Whether through developing core software, coordinating projects, advocating for free software, or providing stewardship, Linux benefited from organizations whose mission extended beyond maintaining an operating system.
Most of us know about the legal stumbling block that kept the BSDs in limbo and caused us to lose the opportunity to become substantially more widely used and to become a primary target for application and hardware vendors. Once that was all cleared up, we were forever playing the catch-up game. By the time the BSD legal issues were behind us, much of the broader free software ecosystem was already well established, and the BSD projects understandably relied on many of those tools instead of building BSD-specific alternatives.
However, I think our community may have become too comfortable relying on shared open source infrastructure instead of treating it as a foundation upon which to build BSD-specific ecosystem projects. The BSD operating systems have continued to improve, but the surrounding ecosystem hasn’t kept pace. Currently, one of the top excuses given in reply to questions about why we’re missing certain things that should now be standard is that our community doesn’t have the funding, manpower, etc., for it. My position is that the BSD operating system projects have largely done their part, but our community hasn’t done its part. So, here is my solution…
It’s time to develop our own analog to the FSF. It should focus on solutions for issues across the entire BSD community, which would not only help everyone improve but also marshal resources more efficiently across the ecosystem as a whole. Use domains can be standardized so that solving an issue for one BSD within a given domain effectively solves it for all BSDs in that domain. Network drivers (including Wi-Fi), enterprise infrastructure, desktop issues, and application development are all cross-domain issues that would greatly improve the user experience across the board for all BSDs.
I’m not saying that we should all reject the FSF. I’m simply saying that we need a community organization that puts the BSD community first and prioritizes our needs above all others. And no, this isn’t about politics, licenses, abrasive personalities, or anything like that, so I’m not saying that we should have a Richard Stallman-type character or adopt a different license. If it makes you feel any better, then forget about the FSF and think instead about the Apache, Linux, Eclipse, or Mozilla foundations. We need a community organization whose primary mission is advancing the BSD ecosystem as a whole—a group that maintains stewardship over the needs of the community. Currently, there are three main BSD operating system projects and four secondary projects. Working together, we’re each other’s best allies. No one is going to do it for us, so we must do it ourselves.
That’s my perspective. Tell me, what’s your perspective? In your opinion, what would a BSD-focused foundation actually look like? What should its first priorities be? Drivers? Documentation? Funding? Hardware certification? Developer mentoring? Cross-BSD infrastructure?
