FreeBSD founder ports Omarchy to FreeBSD in ten days, ten releases

The current release of Daemonarchy, version 1.3.1, has seen ten releases in roughly ten days, a rapid pace driven by ports created by jkh@freebsd.org. This independent effort, spearheaded by Jordan Hubbard, one of the original founders of FreeBSD, brings Omarchy's Wayland-based desktop environment to the BSD world.

Daemonarchy is not connected to the original Linux-based Omarchy. The latter is described as a collection of apps and preconfigured settings, assembled with the aid of LLM bots and available for download. Updating it requires a specific script, which reportedly failed during testing in a VM.

Hubbard’s background includes work at Apple, where he aided in updating the BSD-based Unix layer beneath Mac OS X, and he co-launched the NextBSD project in 2015 to modernize FreeBSD using Apple Darwin components.

Given the swift development, which includes 18 new FreeBSD ports of Linux tools in a month, Hubbard is utilizing LLMs. Daemonarchy’s GitHub repository references his Literate AI project, which it defines as "A meta-harness for coding agents to follow proper Software Development Lifecycle practices," built upon "literate programming ideas from Donald Knuth."

The inspiration for this project stemmed from a LinkedIn post by UK IT consultant Sam Sheridan, who criticized the complexity of setting up FreeBSD 15.1 with an Nvidia card. Ralph Kepper commented on the thread, stating, "I'm just gonna say it… omarchy for FreeBSD, its the ugly truth and no one likes it but there it is. omarchy will get us the youngsters and if we do it right we will inspire some great minds along the way."

Daemonarchy builds upon FreeBSD CURRENT, meaning it is based on the version slated to become FreeBSD 16 in December 2027. While the intrepid can run it now, it currently targets the MacBookPro16,1, which represents one of the final generations of Intel-based MacBooks.

The project's impact could extend beyond introducing new users; it may aid in developing an accessible, graphical FreeBSD installer and a friendly desktop experience. Furthermore, it directly relates to the ongoing discussion surrounding AI coding assistants within the FreeBSD project.

The effort has drawn attention to the broader implications, as the FreeBSD project's co-founder is actively contributing code using Claude's assistance, making a ban on AI contributions seem highly improbable.