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Berkeley Software Distribution - Wikipedia
Berkeley Software Distribution
The Berkeley Software Distribution1 (BSD), also known as Berkeley Unix, is a discontinued Unix operating system developed and distributed by the Computer Systems Research Group (CSRG) at the University of California, Berkeley. First released in 1978, it began as an improved derivative of AT&T’s original Unix developed at Bell Labs, based on the source code. Over time, BSD evolved into a distinct operating system and played a significant role in computing and the development and dissemination of Unix-like systems.23
BSD development was initially led by Bill Joy, who together with Ozalp Babaoglu added virtual memory capability to Unix running on a VAX-11 computer.3 During the 1980s, BSD gained widespread adoption by workstation vendors in the form of proprietary Unix distributions—such as DEC with Ultrix and Sun Microsystems with SunOS —due to its permissive licensing and familiarity among engineers. BSD also became the most widely used Unix variant in academic institutions, where it was used for the study of operating systems.2 The BSD project received funding from DARPA until 1988,3 during which time BSD incorporated ARPANET support and later implemented the TCP/IP protocol suite, released as part of BSD NET/1 in 1988.4 By that time, the codebase had diverged significantly from the original AT&T Unix, with estimates suggesting that less than 5% of the code remained from AT&T. As a result, NET/1 was distributed without requiring an AT&T source license.34
Berkeley ended its Unix research in 1992, following reduced funding and complications arising from the Unix copyright lawsuit.3 As the original BSD became obsolete, the term “BSD” came to refer primarily to its open-source descendants, including FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, and DragonFly BSD, and derivatives of those projects, such as TrueOS. BSD-derived code, along with Mach code, also formed the basis for Darwin; that, in turn, has been incorporated into Apple’s proprietary operating systems, such as macOS and iOS.5 Windows NT 3.1’s networking stack used a BSD-derived TCP/IP implementation, and some BSD-based networking utilities for that stack are also provided with Windows NT.6 Code from BSD’s open descendants have themselves also been integrated into various modern platforms, including the system software for the PlayStation 5 and other embedded or commercial devices.7
Printed 2026-06-28.
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Link to original Footnotes
or Berkeley Standard Distribution ↩
Levitt, Jason; Schuman, Evan (June 22, 1992). “For BSD Unix, It’s Sayonara”. Open Systems Today. ↩ ↩2
Harding, Elizabeth U. (October 19, 1992). “Unix pioneer ends BSD research”. Software Magazine. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5
“A Brief History of Unix, BSD and FreeBSD”. minnie.tuhs.org. Retrieved December 5, 2024. ↩ ↩2
“Apple Kernel Programming Guide: BSD Overview”. Retrieved March 27, 2021. ↩
Barr, Adam (June 19, 2001). “Microsoft, TCP/IP, Open Source, and Licensing”. Archived from the original on November 14, 2005. Retrieved June 7, 2019. ↩
“Kernel”. PlayStation 5 Dev Wiki. ↩
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