TrueNAS producer iXsystems has faced user issues due to a shift from FreeBSD focus to Debian Linux. Its two main products, TrueNAS CORE (based on BSD Unix and a scale-up product) and TrueNAS SCALE (based on Debian Linux, a scale-out product supporting various technologies and having wider hardware support with better performance and less CPU and memory requirements), will have different development speeds with CORE becoming more of a maintenance product.
Kris Moore, SVP for engineering, explained that upstream software developments have shifted, with ZFS development mostly on Linux and drivers and features first developed on Linux and then ported to FreeBSD. Many engineering staff previously spent time on FreeBSD improvement instead of feature development. Now with the Debian basis transition, they focus on ZFS features. Moore emphasized that this is not against FreeBSD but a business decision based on the current development trends.
Brett Davis, iXsystem EVP, added that the company's heritage is from BSD but they should have made the decision earlier. There are three types of users - FreeBSD users, Linux users, and those who don't care as long as the product works. It seems that the importance of BSD and Linux in open source Unix development is changing, with Linux taking priority. TrueNAS CORE releases are tied to BSD releases, and there was a decision to change the name of the next CORE release. It was also said that TrueNAS CORE VMs won't migrate to SCALE which is false. Davis said they have enterprise customers with long entitlements and will continue to support CORE. In summary, iXsystems aims to take care of users and provide a freely available open source product, and users have the option to migrate between CORE and SCALE.