BSDderived

BSDderived refers to operating systems that descend from the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), a Unix-like family developed at the University of California, Berkeley. The BSD lineage has diverged into several major projects that continue to evolve independently, including FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and DragonFly BSD. These systems share a common heritage and typically retain a BSD-style userland and kernel design, while applying their own goals and innovations.

Key characteristics include permissive licensing under BSD licenses, which permit redistribution and use with relatively few restrictions beyond preserving copyright notices. They are generally Unix-like and POSIX-compatible, with diverse goals across the projects: FreeBSD emphasizes performance, broad hardware support, and integrated system features; NetBSD prioritizes portability across a wide range of architectures; OpenBSD focuses on security, correctness, and formal code quality; DragonFly BSD stresses scalability for multiprocessor systems and includes its own file systems such as HAMMER.

Software packaging is provided through a ports collection or a package management system, enabling straightforward installation and maintenance of third-party software. The BSD-derived family has influenced other operating systems and ecosystems; for example, macOS includes a substantial amount of BSD-derived userland and tools. Today, BSD-derived systems remain actively developed, with ongoing advances in networking, virtualization, security, and cross-platform support, continuing to offer a combination of performance, portability, and freedom of use for servers, desktops, and embedded environments.