When we talk about Open Source, especially free operating systems, one name written in golden letters consistently stands out. Yes, it’s FreeBSD! It’s a name celebrated in the open-source community and continues to serve millions of users and organizations worldwide reliably.
Today, we commemorate a significant milestone in the technology landscape—FreeBSD, a trailblazing open-source operating system, reaches the age of 31. Its journey began at the University of California at Berkeley, on June 19, 1993, with an email thread on an early BSD list, officially heralding the birth of what we now recognize as FreeBSD.
In 2017, the Registrar of the National Day Calendar officially designated June 19 as National FreeBSD Day, affirming its impact and importance in the tech community.
For the last 30+ years of its history, FreeBSD has deservedly made a name for itself as one of the most stable and reliable operating systems. For example, it’s at the heart of systems powering services from companies like Netflix, WhatsApp and even gaming on PlayStation 4.
So, even if you’re not a developer or open-source tech enthusiast, chances are you interact with FreeBSD daily. Its footprint is vast yet often invisible to the end user.
Yes, we’re a bunch of die-hard Linux fans here, but that doesn’t stop us from deeply respecting FreeBSD—and yes, we often count on its capabilities. It’s hard to fully express our gratitude to the FreeBSD development community because there’s so much to be thankful for.
We’ll just say that we are thankful for having one of the most secure, stable, and reliable operating systems at our fingertips. We love the superb PKG tool; it’s incredibly user-friendly and a joy to use. We’re also grateful for the extensive ports collection—it’s just a treasure trove. And let’s not forget the ZFS file system—simply unbeatable. I know, there are so many more.
Thank you for everything! Happy 31st Birthday, FreeBSD! You rock!
