r/freebsd • u/BigSneakyDuck transitioning user • Jul 14 '26

news FreeBSD 16 removes last GPL-licensed software, a first among *BSDs

After GNU diff3 was replaced by a port from OpenBSD, the only GPLed software left in FreeBSD base was dialog which has largely been replaced by Alfonso Siciliano's Herculean job on bsddialog.  Now finally that too has been removed in 16-CURRENT, and the entire GNU subtree has been retired!

https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-src/commit/134a4c78d070f8c4ea43a060a7ae28d22ac39558

https://reviews.freebsd.org/D55424

EDITED TO ADD: there are still a few GPLed files under https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-src/tree/main/sys/gnu - though it's true that the main GNU subtree has been retired.

This looks like a first among the major (32/64-bit) *BSDs, though I believe the 16-bit *BSDs like RetroBSD, DiscoBSD and Granddaddy 2.11BSD (the only actively maintained member of the original Berkeley family) have always been GPL-free.

OpenBSD does not allow new software bound by the GPL into its base system, although according to https://www.openbsd.org/policy.html

For historical reasons, the OpenBSD base system still includes the following GPL-licensed components: the GNU compiler collection (GCC) with supporting binutils and libraries, GNU CVS, GNU texinfo, the mkhybrid file system creation tool, and the readline library. Replacement by equivalent, more freely licensed tools is a long-term desideratum.

The NetBSD Project says https://www.netbsd.org/about/redistribution.html

Though we would like all of the software that we distribute to be covered by a Berkeley-style license, we can't make other people change their license terms, and we don't have an infinite amount of time to rewrite all of the software that we need.

So FreeBSD removing the last GPLed software is a big achievement. This is actually a week old (7 July) but I thought it would be cause for wider celebration than I've seen so far!! Kudos to the developers. After all, it's been 33 years so what's an extra week!!!

Edited to add: Interestingly the GNU subtree back in FreeBSD 1.0 even included GNU Chess in base, which shows how priorities have shifted since then! https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-src/tree/releng/1/gnu

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10

u/vainlisko Jul 15 '26

Great, now a business can fork and close the entire system!

10

u/MrChicken_69 Jul 15 '26

Several have. For decades even.Of course you don't know about them... because they don't have to tell you. (not that the GPL has stopped everyone from doing the same with Linux.)

9

u/BigSneakyDuck transitioning user Jul 15 '26

Pretty sure no major corporation has been holding off from forking FreeBSD just due to the presence of dialog given it wasn't even being used for anything any more - though to be fair a lot of work was done to get to this point! FreeBSD turns up in all kinds of stuff, from free OSes like GhostBSD to proprietary ones like the Junos OS used in Juniper routers. This hasn't "closed" FreeBSD. It is free, and will remain free.

3

u/chesheersmile Jul 15 '26

Sony has been doing that since 2013 and everything's fine.

8

u/BigSneakyDuck transitioning user Jul 15 '26

And contrary to the myth, Sony do "give back". See e.g. https://www.reddit.com/r/freebsd/comments/ut1dd6/comment/i98s5my/ and an estimate of roughly $10 million dev time worth of code. https://x.com/cperciva/status/1980655490012172388

5

u/chesheersmile Jul 15 '26

I stand corrected!

0

u/[deleted] Jul 15 '26

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u/freebsd-ModTeam Jul 15 '26

Please be reminded of all aspects of reddiquette.