The release of the desktop-oriented distribution GhostBSD 25.02 has been announced, built on FreeBSD 14 and offering builds with the MATE, Xfce, and Gershwin user environments. By default, GhostBSD uses the ZFS file system. Both Live mode operation and installation on a hard drive are supported (it uses a custom installer ginstall, written in Python). Boot images have been created for the x86_64 architecture (3.7 GB with MATE, 3.4 GB with Xfce, 3.3 GB with Gershwin).
This release is notable for the beginning of testing its own desktop environment, Gershwin, styled to resemble the macOS interface. The GNUstep framework and the xfce4-wm window manager have been used to recreate user interaction mechanisms similar to those of macOS, though a custom window manager is planned for future development. Experimental support for Wayland is also available.
Gershwin integrates GhostBSD tools such as the installer, application manager (Software Station), and graphical interfaces for backup (Backup Station) and system updates (Update Station). Both standard programs and applications based on GNUstep can be run. Unlike other GNUstep-based distributions, Gershwin does not use the NEXTSTEP style and includes modifications to provide a graphical environment that is not tied to the Window Maker window manager.
Other changes in GhostBSD 25.02 include:
- This release is synchronized with FreeBSD 14.3.
- Automatic cleaning of the /tmp directory has been implemented.
- Support for configuring vfs.zfs.arc_max has been discontinued.
- Automatic switching of sound devices has been ensured, and support for multi-channel sound cards (more than 2 channels) with USB interface has been added.
- Automatic detection of AMD Radeon HD 8790M and Radeon HD 8240 Kabini graphics cards has been implemented, and improved detection of NVIDIA RTX 4000/5000 series has been achieved.
- Boot environment management has been improved.
- Support for fusefs has been added.
- The Software Station application manager has improved handling of conflicting packages.
- Files with translations into Russian have been updated.
Source: opennet.ru
