TrueOS For Linux

4.3/5 146

Last updated: Mar 31, 2018 BSD License

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An Open Source and easy-to-install-and-use FreeBSD-based desktop operating system. #Operating system #BSD distribution #UNIX distro #BSD #FreeBSD #Distribution

Softpedia Review

TrueOS (formerly PC-BSD) is an open source BSD distribution based on the well known FreeBSD operating system and built around the KDE Plasma Workspaces and Applications project, as its default desktop environment.

It is distributed as a single and very large DVD ISO image that can only be installed on a computer or laptop. This means that you won’t be able to test the operating system before installing it.

Only the 64-bit hardware platform is supported at this time. Besides KDE, recent versions of TrueOS are also distributed with the popular Cinnamon, GNOME and MATE desktop environments.

The recommended hardware requirements include a 64-bit Intel or AMD processor, 4GB of RAM, 50GB of free disk space, a network card, a sound card, and a NVIDIA, Intel or AMD Radeon 3D accelerated graphics card.

Its key highlights include an easy installation and update processes, automatic configuration of hardware components, intuitive desktop interface, easy software management, support for laptops, very secure environment, easy system administration, and support for numerous languages.

Another interesting feature is the ability to run almost any GNU/Linux application, thanks to its built-in Linux binary compatibility functionality. It can run Windows application via the Wine software.

The disk drives on which TrueOS is installed don’t need to be defragmented and will never slow down over time, thanks to the compelling ZFS (Z File System) self-healing filesystem. Getting started with TrueOS

TrueOS's desktop can be used immediately, and will make installing pre-built software packages as easy as on other popular UNIX-like or GNU/Linux operating systems. It provides users with a stable and secure computing environment, just like any other BSD-based distribution.

With TrueOS you won't have to worry about computer viruses and other type of malware anymore. It’s not Linux, is BSD (Berkeley Software Distribution) and it is one of the most user-friendly operating systems powered by this UNIX ecosystem.

What's new in TrueOS 18.03:

“Meltdown” security fixes: This release contains all the fixes to FreeBSD which mitigate the security issues for systems that utilize Intel-based processors when running virtual machines such as FreeBSD jails. Please note that virtual machines or jails must also be updated to a version of FreeBSD or TrueOS which contains these security fixes.
“Spectre” security mitigations: This release contains all current mitigations from FreeBSD HEAD for the Spectre memory-isolation attacks (Variant 2). All 3rd-party packages for this release are also compiled with LLVM/Clang 6 (the “retpoline” mitigation strategy). This fixes many memory allocation issues and enforces stricter requirements for code completeness and memory usage within applications. Unfortunately, some 3rd-party applications became unavailable as pre-compiled packages due to non-compliance with these updated standards. These applications are currently being fixed either by the upstream authors or the FreeBSD port maintainers. If there are any concerns about the availability of a critical application for a specific workflow, please search through the changelog of packages between TrueOS 17.12 and 18.03 to verify the status of the application.
Most systems will need microcode updates for additional Spectre mitigations. The microcode updates are not enabled by default. This work is considered experimental because it is in active development by the upstream vendors. If desired, the microcode updates are available with the new devcpu-data package, which is available in the Appcafe. Install this package and enable the new microcode_update service to apply the latest runtime code when booting the system.

Read the full changelog

DOWNLOAD TrueOS 18.03