As if the Desktop Linux Revolution weren't enough, Wasabi Systems, Inc. (NY, NY) will unveil what is being described as the “first commercial NetBSD boxed set” at LinuxWorld next week. Wasabi's new product is called the NetBSD 1.5.2 Package Release for Desktops, and “comes ready to install, in a nice friendly box complete with CDs and a manual,” said Wasabi founder and CEO Perry Metzger.

The new product is being promoted as “a distribution of the NetBSD operating system and application suite for desktop computing.”

“This is the first step towards a long term goal of making a desktop-friendly version of NetBSD available for end users,” observed Wasabi's Dave Damast, who manages distribution of the new commercial boxed set.

How serious is Wasabi about promoting the new NetBSD-for-Desktops package to desktop computer end users?

“It's not our primary business strategy to do that — we're actually mainly targeting the embedded market,” explained Metzger. “However, making NetBSD friendlier for people on the desktop supports that strategy, because the more people who use NetBSD, the higher Wasabi's profile becomes, and the more we'll see engineers designing us into embedded applications.”

According to Metzger, there is nothing on the CDs in the packaged product that must be licensed for reproduction. “As far as I'm concerned, people can reproduce these CDs all they want — make as many copies as you like,” he added. “These things are a sort of advertising for Wasabi that people pay us for.”

Wasabi's NetBSD 1.5.2 Package Release for Desktops will be sold online and in retail stores for $64.95. The 5-CD boxed set includes over 2000 applications for NetBSD, including GNOME, KDE, several window managers, web browsers, games, office suites, and an array of development tools. Included are source code for the OS supporting 20 different processor architectures, as well as nearly two gigabytes of third-party software for the x86-based PC platform, plus a 16-page installation guide and on-disc documentation.

 
This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.