News imported

The i386 boot process is as crufty as you’d expect from decades of stagnation. Booting your OS could be much easier–that’s why the GRUB hackers developed The Multiboot Specification. Julio M. Merino Vidal explains why Multiboot exists, what it can do for you, and how he modified the NetBSD kernel to work with it.

Greylisting–delaying mail delivery briefly per the SMTP RFCs–is an effective way to reduce the amount of incoming spam. While many greylisting solutions require customization of your SMTP server, OpenBSD’s PF can do it too. Dan Langille shows how to use the powerful packet filter to identify and pass legitimate mail, delay and divert potential spammers, and throw in some OS fingerprinting to ward off certain zombie clients.

iXsystems’ recent acquisition of PC-BSD hasn’t slowed the development of the desktop-capable FreeBSD distribution. Version 1.3 is out and available. Dru Lavigne talks with PC-BSD developers about the new release and their plans to continue to make an effective, efficient, and usable free desktop operating systems.

FreeBSD 7.1-RELEASE is now available. Please be sure to check the Release Notes and Release Errata before installation for any late-breaking news and/or issues with 7.1. More information about FreeBSD releases can be found on the Release Information page.