DragonFlyBSD 4.8 Released, Filesystems

[grarpamp]

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13969855
https://www.dragonflybsd.org/release48/

Big-ticket items

Improved kernel performance

This release further localizes cache lines and reduces/removes cache
ping-ponging on globals. For bulk builds on many-cores or multi-socket
systems, we have around a 5% improvement, and certain subsystems such
as namecache lookups and exec()s see massive focused improvements. See
the corresponding mailing list post with details.

Support for eMMC booting, and mobile and high-performance PCIe SSDs

This kernel release includes support for eMMC storage as the boot
device. We also sport a brand new SMP-friendly, high-performance NVMe
SSD driver (PCIe SSD storage). Initial device test results are
available.

EFI support

The installer can now create an EFI or legacy installation. Numerous
adjustments have been made to userland utilities and the kernel to
support EFI as a mainstream boot environment. The /boot filesystem may
now be placed either in its own GPT slice, or in a DragonFly disklabel
inside a GPT slice.

DragonFly, by default, creates a GPT slice for all of DragonFly and
places a DragonFly disklabel inside it with all the standard DFly
partitions, such that the disk names are roughly the same as they
would be in a legacy system.

Improved graphics support

The i915 driver has been updated to match the version found with the
Linux 4.6 kernel. Broadwell and Skylake processor users will see
improvements.

Other user-affecting changes

Kernel is now built using -O2.
VKernels now use COW, so multiple vkernels can share one disk image.
powerd() is now sensitive to time and temperature changes.
Non-boot-filesystem kernel modules can be loaded in rc.conf instead of
loader.conf.

AMD Ryzen support is in the release and further work will be brought
in as new Ryzen developments occur. There are some
cpu-reported-topology issues that will be fixed and MFC'd. There are
some stability issues currently waiting on an AMD microcode update to
resolve/retest. Ryzen users can be assured that we are staying on top
of it!