Frequently Asked Questions for FreeBSD 2.X : Miscellaneous Questions : What does 'BSD' mean?
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12.11. What does 'BSD' mean?

It stands for something in a secret language that only members can know. It doesn't translate literally but its ok to tell you that BSD's translation is something between, 'Formula-1 Racing Team', 'Penguins are tasty snacks', and 'We have a better sense of humor than Linux.' :-)

Seriously, BSD is an acronym for 'Berkeley Software Distribution', which is the name the Berkeley CSRG (Computer Systems Research Group) chose for their Unix distribution way back when.


Frequently Asked Questions for FreeBSD 2.X : Miscellaneous Questions : What does 'BSD' mean?
Previous: What does 'MFC' mean?
Next: For serious FreeBSD hackers only