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In GSoC 2026Every cycle since 2016

The FreeBSD Project

FreeBSD is an operating system renowned for its advanced networking capabilities, robust security features, and exceptional performance. It is used across a wide spectrum of computing environments, ranging from the most heavily trafficked websites to desktop computers and embedded devices. Our source code is the foundation for well-known products such as the Sony PlayStation, Junos (the operating system powering Juniper routers), and elements of Apple's macOS. Additionally, FreeBSD runs on servers at Netflix that stream terabits of video content every second.

Ideas list Website

Contributors in 2026

11

−1 from 2025

Projects since 2016

87

7.9 a cycle on average

Cycles

11 of 11

11-cycle streak

Rank in 2026

#23

of 183, 1.0% of slots

Mentors

17

for 12 projects in 2025

Contributors per cycle

Accepted projects each year, against the median organization that year

  1. 12
  11. 11
View as table
The FreeBSD Project contributors per cycle
The FreeBSD ProjectMedian organization
2016124
201754
201883
201964
202064
202154
202273
202364
202494
2025125
2026114

Stack and topics

Each one has its own page of organizations and trends

More about The FreeBSD Project

The FreeBSD Project has a rich history spanning over 30 years, originating in 1993 but rooted in work from the Berkeley Computer Systems Research Group dating back to 1978. Over the years, our codebase has undergone continuous development and played an important role in developing essential software components used by numerous open-source projects. Examples include bsnmp, jemalloc, libarchive, and OpenPAM.

FreeBSD maintains an active mentoring program to welcome new developers into our vibrant community. With approximately 300 developers with write access to our repositories and numerous other contributors, our community thrives on collaboration and shared expertise. Many of our past Google Summer of Code contributors have transitioned into becoming key members of the FreeBSD development team.

Communication within the FreeBSD community occurs through various channels, including mailing lists, forums, blogs, IRC channels, and user groups, all listed on our main website.

Quick answers

Is The FreeBSD Project in GSoC 2026?
Yes, with 11 contributors.
How long has it taken part?
11 of 11 cycles since 2016, first in 2016, with a 11-cycle streak running.
How many contributors does it usually take?
7.9 a cycle on average, 87 in total. Its largest cycle was 2016, with 12.
What does it build with?
C, C++, LLVM, Shell Script, Make, Clang and 4 more.

Accepted projects

11 projects in 2026 · All 87 projects since 2016

  1. NanoBSD Reimagined

    Angshuman Sengupta

    NanoBSD has long provided a reliable framework for building embedded FreeBSD images, but its legacy pipeline remains monolithic and resource...

    Project

  2. Add Networking Support to kboot

    Aryan Arora

    This project introduces a network abstraction layer to libkboot, enabling boot artifacts to be fetched from remote sources without disrupting the...

    Project

  3. Enhancing Arduino and ESP32 Development Ecosystem on FreeBSD

    Deepan Sai

    Problems to solve: - Porting and stabilizing Arduino CLI for FreeBSD - Fixing USB and serial communication workflows for reliable device interaction...

    Project

  4. Live-patching for the FreeBSD kernel

    fedang

    This project aims to add a livepatch subsystem to dynamically update kernel code. Having a way to patch bugs or security vulnerabilities without...

    Project

  5. Netlink Payload Decoding Infrastructure for FreeBSD Tracing Tools

    IshanAgrawal

    This project improves Netlink support in FreeBSD tracing tools by enabling structured decoding of Netlink message payloads. Currently, truss(1) shows...

    Project

  6. Capsicumize fts(3)

    Jitendra Bhati

    fts(3) is the file hierarchy traversal library used by nearly every recursive utility in FreeBSD like find, rm, ls, chflags, du, and others. It...

    Project

  7. Bluetooth Support for HID Devices

    Majed Alkhaleefah

    Currently, Bluetooth HID support in FreeBSD is limited to the bthidd daemon. The daemon, while functional, uses its own custom userspace drivers...

    Project

  8. Native MPLS Support for FreeBSD

    Subhash Murmu

    This proposal lays out plans to bring native MPLS support into the FreeBSD kernel. MPLS—Multi-Protocol Label Switching—is a fast packet-forwarding...

    Project
Show 3 more projects

  1. EFI-Backed Persistent Boot Counter for Early-Boot HMAC in FreeBSD

    Vidith Hundekar

    This project introduces a firmware-backed persistent boot counter into the FreeBSD base system to address the early-boot entropy problem. During...

    Project

  2. Enhancing Zoned Storage support on FreeBSD

    voidanix

    This proposal aims at implementing the following quality-of-life improvements to FreeBSD's Zoned Storage support: NVMe ZNS support; Zone-aware...

    Project

  3. Reimplement udmabuf to FreeBSD

    Zishun Yi

    This project aims to implement the udmabuf (User DMA Buffer) driver on FreeBSD, a crucial mechanism for zero-copy memory sharing between userspace...

    Project

FROM PAST CONTRIBUTORS

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Data: Google Summer of Code public archive. Contributor counts are accepted projects.