
Netflix and FreeBSD: Using Open Source to Deliver Streaming Video [pdf] - vermaden
https://fosdem.org/2019/schedule/event/netflix_freebsd/attachments/slides/3103/export/events/attachments/netflix_freebsd/slides/3103/FOSDEM_2019_Netflix_and_FreeBSD.pdf
======
mikece
Why is there such a visceral hatred for non-GPL software? Seems that every
time the GPL vs. BSD (or equivalent) issue comes up there is much anger about
companies doing proprietary work on top of FreeBSD. I'm curious about the
opposite: code taken from BSD (or equivalent) projects and put into GPL code
bases and then extended such that those improvements cannot be ported back to
the BSD source. GPL proponents say this never happens but in multiple forums
I've heard from folks who have had their permissive-licensed projects killed
because their work was effectively GPLed and "extended" against their will.

To me this boils down to how you see humanity: if you think we're essentially
good and willing to help each other, permissive licensing makes more sense. If
you think morality has to be enforced by contract because we cannot trust one
another then GPL is the only choice. I chose permissive licensing because I
don't see my fellow humans as essentially evil.

~~~
pjmlp
As user of commercial software and ex-Linux zealot, I have my own glass
ceiling, so take it with a grain of salt.

Had Linux and GNU not been GPL, and we would all be using Aix, HP-UX, Solaris,
..., because none of the BSDs would have gotten back the contributions like it
happened to Linux, and BSDs would still be just another UNIX derivative among
many.

Just look at the optimizations that some embedded OEMs, or even Sony, don't
contribute back to LLVM. And speaking of Sony, not everything from PS4 OS has
gotten back to BSD.

~~~
IntelMiner
The Playstation 3 and Vita also run/ran NetBSD, as well

Sony also helped spawn "ToyBox". A BSD licensed replacement for the GPL
"BusyBox"
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toybox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toybox)

------
2trill2spill
I really like the work Netflix has done and open sourced back into FreeBSD
[1], But I do take issue with one of the slides, where it says "Using FreeBSD
and commodity parts, we achieve 90 Gb/s serving TLS-encrypted connections".
Sorry but that's not FreeBSD, that's a Netflix proprietary fork of FreeBSD
serving all that, until me and the rest of FreeBSD community can actually
download and use TLS sendfile, Netflix should probably stop saying FreeBSD
serves all this TLS traffic.

[1]:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sZZN8Szh14&t=834s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sZZN8Szh14&t=834s)

~~~
fefe23
I clicked on that video and at the timestamp in the link the guy says they
like FreeBSD because it's not GPL. Not that we have anything against GPL or
the Free Software Foundation, but the BSD license is more collaborative. I'm
paraphrasing here.

Is there any actual evidence for that claim?

I'm a Linux guy so my view is probably biased. All I'm seeing is BSD licensed
projects being ripped off by corporations left and right. Maybe we mean
different things with the word, sharing. Netflix using FreeBSD and their idea
of giving back to the project is telling them this will lead to their code
being tested really well? That sounds to me like "please create a web page for
us for free, it will lead to more exposure for you".

Why does FreeBSD then not have your TLS sendfile code? Linux has TLS sendfile.
It was contributed by a corporation, as far as I know.

Personally, I have always really liked the BSD projects. The people working on
them have been nothing but professional and yet courteous, they tend to fix
their security issues quickly. I would love for them to get paid properly.

With money. Not with "exposure" or "we'll test your code".

~~~
boomboomsubban
>I'm a Linux guy so my view is probably biased. All I'm seeing is BSD licensed
projects being ripped off by corporations left and right. Maybe we mean
different things with the word, sharing. Netflix using FreeBSD and their idea
of giving back to the project is telling them this will lead to their code
being tested really well? That sounds to me like "please create a web page for
us for free, it will lead to more exposure for you".

Where are you seeing these corporations ripping off FreeBSD? Netflix has
contributed code in the past, currently over a thousand commits in FreeBSD,
and there's no reason to doubt their intention to continue doing so.

~~~
pjmlp
Apple, Sony, a couple of companies selling routers,...

They are on their right though, that is what the BSD licence is all about,
code for free no questions asked.

~~~
boomboomsubban
I'll grant you there are probably router companies ripping them off, though
that's true of Linux too. Your other two have both contributed much back to
FreeBSD, so I'm unsure what you mean.

~~~
pjmlp
With Linux there is a legal way to get hold of those contributions, to anyone
willing to invest time and money into it.

Yes, they have contributed back and I referred that in another thread, just
not what they were supposed to under a copyleft license.

------
betaby
There is ZERO technical details in this PDF beside 'we track head closely'

------
ksec
I was a bit naive when I said I wish Netflix had use Fast.com as their brand
of CDN. Turns out their whole CDN are tailored to their special needs of Video
and Video only. So it wouldn't work nearly as well if there were many small
files or other CDN use cases.

What I really wished was I could have a CDN based on BSD. Even though you
can't actually use BSD for lots of other reason, you could at last contribute
a little by having some infrastructure that is built on top of BSD and you are
paying for it. As far as I know only Limestone CDN are on FreeBSD, but
unfortunately they only offer business to Enterprise.

------
gigatexal
All of the discussion points in this thread are valid but what the slides omit
is whether they using ZFS?

~~~
Cyclenerd
UFS. Source: 47:50min @
[https://ftp.fau.de/fosdem/2019/Janson/netflix_freebsd.webm](https://ftp.fau.de/fosdem/2019/Janson/netflix_freebsd.webm)

~~~
gigatexal
Thanks. ZFS doesn’t have to be used everywhere. And in media like this it
probably makes little sense as they have all the tools custom built to deliver
stuff to it and such.

------
_eht
Absolute shame flaunting open source as a backbone for DRM delivery.

------
kgwxd
Using Open Source to Deliver Streaming Bytes You Hope Are Just Video

~~~
_eht
^ better title, please update OP

