Cloud Native FreeBSD

FreeBSD is a beloved and respected Unix-ish operating system, but it has mostly been left behind in the cloud native revolution. That status is changing rapidly, whether from the ability to use container runtimes to manage FreeBSD jails, which were containers before Linux containers existed, or to run Linux containers "natively" using FreeBSD's Linux binary compatibility.

This talk will start with a brief history and overview of FreeBSD, including jails and virtual machine support. Next it will cover up-to-date and evolving capabilities, including

• Ported container engines, including podman and containerd, to FreeBSD
• Open Container Initiative-compatible runtimes for supported container engines
• Building OCI-compliant images of FreeBSD jails
• Using these engines, runtimes, and the Linux "emulator" to run Linux containers directly on a FreeBSD host

The efforts of many contributors and enthusiasts move toward making FreeBSD a first-class cloud native citizen. The talk will round out what that status could look like.