By: MrVain
Well, this ThinOS seems really non-optimal. It is basically a really weak PC. So why not just use a weak PC, or a laptop? I see no use for ThinOS clients. It can be hacked, you need to maintain the OS, etc. Harddisk, RAM, etc.
In contrast the Sun Microsystem SunRay thin clients were totally different. Everything was run on the server, and the server only sent pictures to the SunRay client. The client did not even have a harddisk, OS or anything. It acted like a very long HDMI cable with mouse and keyboard. Totally safe from hackers. SunRay was a really good designed thin client. Server sent graphics and sound to the client, and the client sent mouse and keyboard to the server. Nothing was processed on the client, no state, no harddisk, no OS, no nothing.
By: kkolakowski
In reply to <a href="https://www.osnews.com/story/139840/first-and-possibly-only-look-at-dells-weird-version-of-freebsd-thinos/#comment-10440158">Squizzler</a>.
Apple OS'es are not "based" on FreeBSD. They might have some things in common as they both evolved from BSD Unix, but Apple (and NeXT before it) have their own OS, with their own kernel, drivers, system tools etc.
By: Wondercool2
In reply to <a href="https://www.osnews.com/story/139840/first-and-possibly-only-look-at-dells-weird-version-of-freebsd-thinos/#comment-10440204">smashIt</a>.
That's a good point, thanks, there is room for a few SSDs inside and I will certainly think about this for the future.
The nice thing about the other adapter is that I re-use the unused wifi connector. Which has the advantage of keeping NVME speeds for the OS and data (small advantage I know). My old server is still used but only to sync once a month (backup).
By: smashIt
In reply to <a href="https://www.osnews.com/story/139840/first-and-possibly-only-look-at-dells-weird-version-of-freebsd-thinos/#comment-10440162">Wondercool2</a>.
"I replaced the wifi M.2 slot with an SSD via an adapter like this:
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07QPF4MF8
to get an extra M.2 slot."
You could have used something like this to build a NAS ;)
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0B6RQHY4F
By: Z_God
If this is in any way related to Citrix, just run away while you still can ;)
By: Wondercool2
In reply to <a href="https://www.osnews.com/story/139840/first-and-possibly-only-look-at-dells-weird-version-of-freebsd-thinos/#comment-10440169">Moochman</a>.
You are right of course, 6TB, not GB.
By: Moochman
In reply to <a href="https://www.osnews.com/story/139840/first-and-possibly-only-look-at-dells-weird-version-of-freebsd-thinos/#comment-10440162">Wondercool2</a>.
6GB or TB? 6GB seems a bit small for a home server..
By: Moochman
In reply to <a href="https://www.osnews.com/story/139840/first-and-possibly-only-look-at-dells-weird-version-of-freebsd-thinos/#comment-10440157">Thom Holwerda</a>.
Great, looking forward to it!
By: Rabid_rabbit
In reply to <a href="https://www.osnews.com/story/139840/first-and-possibly-only-look-at-dells-weird-version-of-freebsd-thinos/#comment-10440158">Squizzler</a>.
Probably because FreeBSD is mature AND permissively licensed (not GPL). Genode is AGPL or you pay money. Fuchsia is not very mature , I guess.
By: cato_minor
In reply to <a href="https://www.osnews.com/story/139840/first-and-possibly-only-look-at-dells-weird-version-of-freebsd-thinos/#comment-10440156">Moochman</a>.
One has to be really careful with the naming. I was about to answer that it may be silent, but the user guide shows a fan inside. Then I realised I looked at the "Dell OptiPlex 3000 Micro", which is very small and similar to the "Dell OptiPlex 3000 Thin Client".
In general, when you have air ventilation openings front and back, but not on the top, it is likely not to be passively cooled.
By: Alfman
In reply to <a href="https://www.osnews.com/story/139840/first-and-possibly-only-look-at-dells-weird-version-of-freebsd-thinos/#comment-10440163">Alfman</a>.
We may not be able to install it in a VM, but seeing as Thom has already installed it on actual hardware he may already have the full file system and might be able to access it from a standard FreeBSD install.
By: Alfman
In reply to <a href="https://www.osnews.com/story/139840/first-and-possibly-only-look-at-dells-weird-version-of-freebsd-thinos/#comment-10440155">Drumhellar</a>.
I took a look. It looks pretty clear this is the package containing the OS, however like you I couldn't identify the format.
/dtos/root/ThinOS_2405_9.5.2109.pkg
I did try installing it in a VM...
qemu-system-x86_64 -bios /usr/share/qemu/OVMF.fd -cpu max -enable-kvm -smp 4 -m 8000 -vnc :0 -cdrom ThinOS_2405_9.5.2109.iso -hda /tmp/hd.img -serial stdio -trace "bdrv*" -trace "qmp_*" -trace "virtio_*"
...but it just got to a Dell Loading screen then stopped. Before specifying the CPU I was getting invalid opcode errors, but these went away with the above command so I don't think it's a CPU problem. Obviously the installer is not finding something that it's expecting, but it doesn't output an error to make it clear what that is. I was curious if it would just work, but I don't really feel much like debugging it just to get it to install.
By: Wondercool2
Just like what Thom said about his hardware: on some of the Linux podcast channels (Late Night Linux network) these little machines became very popular.
After realising that it was nonsense to have 6 disks spinning all the time and having a special Kodi ARM box for playing movies, I bought a 60 euro (sixty!) Dell Wyse 5070 on Ebay UK:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=dell+wyse+5070
Slightly bigger than an Apple Mini. There is an extended version too with PCI-E if you need it.
I replaced the wifi M.2 slot with an SSD via an adapter like this:
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07QPF4MF8
to get an extra M.2 slot. It now has 6GB and is placed beside my TV. It's my new homeserver + Kodi box.
No performance problems, playing 4K with ease, DNS server, Deluge, FTP, Fileserver, Nextcloud, etc and no problem with ARM specific issues, standard Debian.
Only a few watts on standby rather than 60 watts.
Recommended!
By: First, and possibly only, look at Dell’s weird version of FreeBSD: ThinOS – Open World News
[…] Author: Thom Holwerda Source […]
By: jalnl
In reply to <a href="https://www.osnews.com/story/139840/first-and-possibly-only-look-at-dells-weird-version-of-freebsd-thinos/#comment-10440158">Squizzler</a>.
Because these are mature and there's plenty of stuff available for it? With Genode or Fuchsia they'd have to reimplement about everything (and wasn't Fuchsia not completely open source?).
By: Squizzler
I wonder why they chose a unix? Free BSD may be the basis of Apple's OS stable so is quite developed, but
I think Genode (or maybe a fork of Fuchsia) would be a more future-proofed basis for such an OS.