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Wasabi brings NetBSD to IBM chip

Wasabi Systems--which sells a rendition of the NetBSD version of Unix for non-PC-embedded computing devices such as routers--has translated that software to work with IBM's PowerPC 405GP chip. Wasabi made the announcement Wednesday. The company, which employs several programmers who are key to the open-source NetBSD effort, sells services to companies wanting to use the software in devices such as special-purpose servers. Though Linux has caught on in this market, advocates of the variants of BSD argue that their Unix software is better suited to the task. While both OSes can be called open source, BSD's license, unlike that of Linux, permits a company to add proprietary software to BSD without having to release that software publicly. This appealed to embedded-software leader Wind River when it embraced the FreeBSD cousin to NetBSD.

Stephen Shankland Former Principal Writer
Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
Expertise Processors, semiconductors, web browsers, quantum computing, supercomputers, AI, 3D printing, drones, computer science, physics, programming, materials science, USB, UWB, Android, digital photography, science. Credentials
  • Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
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Stephen Shankland
Wasabi Systems--which sells a rendition of the NetBSD version of Unix for non-PC-embedded computing devices such as routers--has translated that software to work with IBM's PowerPC 405GP chip. Wasabi made the announcement Wednesday. The company, which employs several programmers who are key to the open-source NetBSD effort, sells services to companies wanting to use the software in devices such as special-purpose servers.

Though Linux has caught on in this market, advocates of the variants of BSD argue that their Unix software is better suited to the task. While both OSes can be called open source, BSD's license, unlike that of Linux, permits a company to add proprietary software to BSD without having to release that software publicly. This appealed to embedded-software leader Wind River when it embraced the FreeBSD cousin to NetBSD.