FreeBSD "Package Base" Is Now Ready For Testing - More Conveniently Update FreeBSD

The developers at iX Systems continue to be on a roll this spring. Just days after announcing their new FreeBSD images built with "ZFS On Linux" for testing as the new FreeBSD ZFS implementation, this weekend they announced their new FreeBSD "pkgbase" images are now available for testing.

While FreeBSD has long had the "pkg" utility for easily installing packages on FreeBSD, using Pkg to manage the FreeBSD base system hasn't been possible.

Following their work on TrueOS, iX Systems has been working to craft FreeBSD into a "pkgbase" configuration whereby the base system and kernel are managed in package form via Pkg. This pkgbase effort will allow for better integration and workflows centralized around pkg.

Currently iX Systems is offering spins of FreeBSD 12 and FreeBSD 13-CURRENT for testing of this "pkgbase" model.

Those wanting to learn more can do so via this call for testing and their FAQ page.