Berkeley Software Design
Encyclopedia
Berkeley Software Design Inc. (BSDI or, later, BSDi) was a corporation which developed, sold licenses for, and supported BSD/OS
(originally known as BSD/386), a commercial and partially proprietary variant of the BSD
Unix
operating system
for PC compatible (and later, other) computer systems. The name was chosen for its similarity to "Berkeley Software Distribution" the source of its primary product (specifically 4.3BSD Networking Release 2).
BSDI was founded by Rick Adams
and members of the Computer Systems Research Group
(CSRG) at the University of California, Berkeley
, including Keith Bostic
, Kirk McKusick, Mike Karels, Bill Jolitz and Donn Seeley. Jolitz, Seeley and Trent Hein were the company's first employees, temporarily working for Rick Adam's UUNET
until BSDI started operations in 1991. In December 1991, Rob Kolstad was hired (at the time he was secretary of USENIX
), and he would take over company operations just two years later.
BSD/386 was released in January 1992. The full system, including source code
retailed at $995, which was much cheaper than the equivalent source code license for the rival UNIX System V
from AT&T
(which cost more than $20,000 in the late 1980s.)
Later the same year, AT&T
's Unix System Laboratories
(USL) brought a lawsuit against BSDI
, alleging that BSD/386 contained their proprietary trade secrets and code. After USL were acquired by Novell
, a settlement was reached in January 1994. This resulted in future releases, of what was now called BSD/OS, being based on CSRG's 4.4BSD-Lite release, which was declared free of any USL intellectual property. At this point, Rob Kolstad (of the University of Illinois and Convex Computer Corporation) was president of BSDI, and he would run the company until the close of the decade. For a long time in the 1990s, BSDI was the preferred platform of the major ISP's, and they offered special versions of BSDI tailored to the needs of ISP's, with support for 256-port modems and a high-performance multi-connection kernel PPP.
In 1999 there was a shake-up by the employees and a new president was installed, with the intent of having an initial public offering (IPO) as soon as possible. At this point, other companies such as Red Hat
had followed the IPO path in the Linux world, to great success. However, the new managers of the company decided to use a great deal of leverage
to help build up the company.
In 2000 the company merged with Walnut Creek CDROM
, a distributor of freeware
and open source software on CD-ROM
. Soon after it acquired Telenet System Solutions, Inc., an Internet
infrastructure server supplier.
In 2001, under severe financial pressure due to too much leverage, BSDI sold its software business unit (comprising BSD/OS, plus the former Walnut Creek involvement in the FreeBSD
and Slackware Linux open-source projects) to Wind River Systems
and renamed the remainder iXsystems, with plans to specialize in hardware. Wind River dropped sponsorship of Slackware soon afterwards, while the FreeBSD unit was divested as a separate entity in 2002 as FreeBSD Mall, Inc.
Faced with competition from FreeBSD and Linux-based operating systems, Wind River discontinued BSD/OS in December 2003. However, by this time some technology from BSD/OS had been contributed to the open source BSD community.
iXsystems' server business was acquired in 2002 by Offmyserver, which reverted to the iXsystems name in 2005.
BSD/OS
BSD/OS was a proprietary version of the BSD operating system developed by Berkeley Software Design, Inc. ....
(originally known as BSD/386), a commercial and partially proprietary variant of the BSD
Berkeley Software Distribution
Berkeley Software Distribution is a Unix operating system derivative developed and distributed by the Computer Systems Research Group of the University of California, Berkeley, from 1977 to 1995...
Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
for PC compatible (and later, other) computer systems. The name was chosen for its similarity to "Berkeley Software Distribution" the source of its primary product (specifically 4.3BSD Networking Release 2).
BSDI was founded by Rick Adams
Rick Adams (Internet pioneer)
Richard L. Adams, Jr. was an Internet pioneer and the founder of UUNET, which, in the mid and late 1990s, was the world's largest Internet Service Provider ....
and members of the Computer Systems Research Group
Computer Systems Research Group
The Computer Systems Research Group was a research group at the University of California, Berkeley that was dedicated to enhancing AT&T Unix operating system and funded by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.- History :...
(CSRG) at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, including Keith Bostic
Keith Bostic
Keith Bostic is a computer programmer from the United States.In 1986, Bostic joined the Computer Systems Research Group at the University of California, Berkeley. He was one of the principal architects of the Berkeley 4.4BSD and 4.4BSD-Lite releases...
, Kirk McKusick, Mike Karels, Bill Jolitz and Donn Seeley. Jolitz, Seeley and Trent Hein were the company's first employees, temporarily working for Rick Adam's UUNET
UUNET
UUNET founded in 1987, was one of the largest Internet service providers and one of the nine Tier 1 networks. It was based in Northern Virginia and was the first commercial Internet service provider...
until BSDI started operations in 1991. In December 1991, Rob Kolstad was hired (at the time he was secretary of USENIX
USENIX
-External links:* *...
), and he would take over company operations just two years later.
BSD/386 was released in January 1992. The full system, including source code
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
retailed at $995, which was much cheaper than the equivalent source code license for the rival UNIX System V
UNIX System V
Unix System V, commonly abbreviated SysV , is one of the first commercial versions of the Unix operating system. It was originally developed by American Telephone & Telegraph and first released in 1983. Four major versions of System V were released, termed Releases 1, 2, 3 and 4...
from AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
(which cost more than $20,000 in the late 1980s.)
Later the same year, AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
's Unix System Laboratories
Unix System Laboratories
Unix System Laboratories was originally organized as part of Bell Labs in 1989. USL joined with the UNIX Software Operation, also a Bell Laboratories division, in 1990. It assumed responsibility for Unix development and licensing activities...
(USL) brought a lawsuit against BSDI
USL v. BSDi
USL v. BSDi was a lawsuit brought in the United States in 1992 by Unix System Laboratories against Berkeley Software Design, Inc and the Regents of the University of California over intellectual property related to UNIX...
, alleging that BSD/386 contained their proprietary trade secrets and code. After USL were acquired by Novell
Novell
Novell, Inc. is a multinational software and services company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Attachmate Group. It specializes in network operating systems, such as Novell NetWare; systems management solutions, such as Novell ZENworks; and collaboration solutions, such as Novell Groupwise...
, a settlement was reached in January 1994. This resulted in future releases, of what was now called BSD/OS, being based on CSRG's 4.4BSD-Lite release, which was declared free of any USL intellectual property. At this point, Rob Kolstad (of the University of Illinois and Convex Computer Corporation) was president of BSDI, and he would run the company until the close of the decade. For a long time in the 1990s, BSDI was the preferred platform of the major ISP's, and they offered special versions of BSDI tailored to the needs of ISP's, with support for 256-port modems and a high-performance multi-connection kernel PPP.
In 1999 there was a shake-up by the employees and a new president was installed, with the intent of having an initial public offering (IPO) as soon as possible. At this point, other companies such as Red Hat
Red Hat
Red Hat, Inc. is an S&P 500 company in the free and open source software sector, and a major Linux distribution vendor. Founded in 1993, Red Hat has its corporate headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina with satellite offices worldwide....
had followed the IPO path in the Linux world, to great success. However, the new managers of the company decided to use a great deal of leverage
Leverage (finance)
In finance, leverage is a general term for any technique to multiply gains and losses. Common ways to attain leverage are borrowing money, buying fixed assets and using derivatives. Important examples are:* A public corporation may leverage its equity by borrowing money...
to help build up the company.
In 2000 the company merged with Walnut Creek CDROM
Walnut Creek CDROM
Walnut Creek CDROM was an early provider of freeware, shareware and free software on CD-ROMs. The company was founded in August 1991 by Bob Bruce and was one of the first commercial distributors of free software on CD-ROMs...
, a distributor of freeware
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
and open source software on CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
. Soon after it acquired Telenet System Solutions, Inc., an Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
infrastructure server supplier.
In 2001, under severe financial pressure due to too much leverage, BSDI sold its software business unit (comprising BSD/OS, plus the former Walnut Creek involvement in the FreeBSD
FreeBSD
FreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via BSD UNIX. Although for legal reasons FreeBSD cannot be called “UNIX”, as the direct descendant of BSD UNIX , FreeBSD’s internals and system APIs are UNIX-compliant...
and Slackware Linux open-source projects) to Wind River Systems
Wind River Systems
Wind River Systems, Inc. is a company providing embedded systems, development tools for embedded systems, middleware, and other types of software. The company was founded in Berkeley, California in 1981 by Jerry Fiddler and David Wilner. On June 4, 2009, Wind River announced that Intel had bought...
and renamed the remainder iXsystems, with plans to specialize in hardware. Wind River dropped sponsorship of Slackware soon afterwards, while the FreeBSD unit was divested as a separate entity in 2002 as FreeBSD Mall, Inc.
Faced with competition from FreeBSD and Linux-based operating systems, Wind River discontinued BSD/OS in December 2003. However, by this time some technology from BSD/OS had been contributed to the open source BSD community.
iXsystems' server business was acquired in 2002 by Offmyserver, which reverted to the iXsystems name in 2005.