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FreeBSD RSS Feed DistroWatch.com: FreeBSD

FreeBSD


Last Update: 2026-05-18 08:21 UTC


FreeBSD is a UNIX-like operating system for the i386, amd64, IA-64, arm, MIPS, powerpc, ppc64, PC-98 and UltraSPARC platforms based on U.C. Berkeley's "4.4BSD-Lite" release, with some "4.4BSD-Lite2" enhancements. It is also based indirectly on William Jolitz's port of U.C. Berkeley's "Net/2" to the i386, known as "386BSD", though very little of the 386BSD code remains. FreeBSD is used by companies, Internet Service Providers, researchers, computer professionals, students and home users all over the world in their work, education and recreation. FreeBSD comes with over 20,000 packages (pre-compiled software that is bundled for easy installation), covering a wide range of areas: from server software, databases and web servers, to desktop software, games, web browsers and business software - all free and easy to install.

Popularity (hits per day): 12 months: 25 (407), 6 months: 26 (433), 3 months: 25 (443), 4 weeks: 28 (433), 1 week: 33 (486)

Average visitor rating: 8.7/10 from 82 review(s).


FreeBSD Summary
Distribution FreeBSD
Home Page https://www.freebsd.org/
Mailing Lists https://www.freebsd.org/community/mailinglists.html
User Forums https://forums.freebsd.org/
Alternative User Forums UnitedBSD
Documentation https://www.freebsd.org/docs/https://wiki.freebsd.org/
Screenshots  
Screencasts
Download Mirrors https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/handbook/mirrors/
Bug Tracker https://www.freebsd.org/support/bugreports.html
Related Websites The FreeBSD DiaryThe FreeBSD MallFreeBSD for Raspberry PiFreshPortsFreeBSD PortsFreeBSD System Administration TrainingBSD JumpstartDaemonForumsBSDNexusThe FreeBSD FoundationManual PagesWikipediaBSDForen.de (German) • BSDGuru (Polish)
Reviews 15.x: DistroWatch
13.x: The Register
12.x: ArstechnicaDistroWatch
11.x: Pro-Linux (German) • DistroWatch
10.x: DistroWatch
9.x: OSNewsDistroWatch
8.x: O'Reilly BroadcastLWN
7.x: Wordpress
6.x: BlogspotServerWatchabout LinuxTuxmachines
5.x: DistroWatchOSNews
4.x: OSNews
Where To Donate, Buy or Try https://freebsdfoundation.org/donate/

Recent Related News and Releases
  Releases announcements with download links and checksums:
 • 2026-03-10: BSD Release: FreeBSD 14.4
 • 2025-12-02: BSD Release: FreeBSD 15.0
 • 2025-11-17: Development Release: FreeBSD 15.0-RC1
 • 2025-10-12: Development Release: FreeBSD 15.0-BETA1
 • 2025-06-10: BSD Release: FreeBSD 14.3
 • 2025-05-10: Development Release: FreeBSD 14.3-BETA2
 • 2025-03-11: BSD Release: FreeBSD 13.5
 • 2025-02-15: Development Release: FreeBSD 13.5-BETA2
 • 2024-12-03: BSD Release: FreeBSD 14.2
 • 2024-11-09: Development Release: FreeBSD 14.2-BETA2
 • 2024-09-17: BSD Release: FreeBSD 13.4
 • 2024-06-04: BSD Release: FreeBSD 14.1
 • More FreeBSD releases...

  Headlines:
 • 2026-04-22 FreeBSD publishes first Status Report of 2026
 • 2026-04-13 FreeBSD improves laptop compatibility
 • 2026-03-30 FreeBSD team responds to forum hack
 • 2026-02-21 FreeBSD publishes fourth quarter status report for 2025
 • 2025-12-22 FreeBSD Foundation reports progress in quest to better support laptops
 • 2025-11-30 FreeBSD publishes third quarter Status Report
 • 2025-11-09 FreeBSD makes progress with reproducible builds
 • 2025-09-08 KDE Plasma 6 running in a Wayland session on FreeBSD
 • 2025-08-29 FreeBSD publishes quarterly status report
 • 2025-07-30 Handling third-party software removal with FreeBSD pkg
 • More FreeBSD headlines...

Table Notes and Explanations

(Please refer to the table below.)
  • Select view:
  • To compare the software in this project to the software available in other distributions, please see our Compare Packages page.
  • Notes: In case where multiple versions of a package are shipped with a distribution, only the default version appears in the table. For indication about the GNOME version, please check the "nautilus" and "gnome-shell" packages. The Apache web server is listed as "httpd" and the Linux kernel is listed as "linux". The KDE desktop is represented by the "plasma-desktop" package and the Xfce desktop by the "xfdesktop" package.
  • Colour scheme: green text = latest stable version, red text = development or beta version. The function determining beta versions is not 100% reliable due to a wide variety of versioning schemes.
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Feature 15-CURRENT 14-STABLE 15.0 14.4 13.5 12.4 11.3 10.4 9.3 8.2 7.4 6.4 5.5 4.11 3.5 2.2.8 Feature
Release Date 2026-05-18 2026-05-18 2025-12-02 2026-03-10 2025-03-11 2022-12-05 2018-07-08 2017-10-03 2014-07-15 2013-06-09 2011-02-24 2008-11-28 2006-05-25 2005-01-25 2000-06-24 1998-11-29 Release Date
End Of Life 2029-12-31 2028-11-30 2029-12 2025-09-30 2026-04-30 2024-06 2021-09 2018-10 2016-12 2015-08             End Of Life
Price (US$) Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Price (US$)
Image Size (MB)     200-4300 200-4300 200-3800 200-3200 200-3200 200-2900 100-1700               Image Size (MB)
Free Download Ports Ports ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO Free Download
Installation Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Installation
Default Desktop                                 Default Desktop
Default Browser                                 Default Browser
Package Format txz txz txz txz txz txz txz txz txz txz tbz tbz tbz tgz tgz tgz Package Format
Package Management                                 Package Management
Release Model Rolling Semi Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Release Model
Office Suite Calligra, GOffice, LibreOffice Calligra, GOffice, LibreOffice Calligra, GOffice, LibreOffice Calligra, GOffice, LibreOffice Calligra, GOffice, LibreOffice Calligra, GOffice, LibreOffice Calligra, GOffice, LibreOffice Calligra, GOffice, LibreOffice Calligra, GOffice, LibreOffice GOffice, KOffice, OO.o GOffice, KOffice, OO.o GOffice, KOffice, OO.o GOffice, KOffice, OO.o GOffice, KOffice, OO.o GOffice -- Office Suite
Processor Architecture aarch64, amd64, armv6, powerpc, powerpc64, sparc64 aarch64, amd64, armv6, i486, powerpc, powerpc64, sparc64 aarch64, amd64, armv6, i486, powerpc, powerpc64, sparc64 aarch64, amd64, armv6, i486, powerpc, powerpc64, sparc64 aarch64, amd64, armv6, i486, powerpc, powerpc64, sparc64 aarch64, amd64, armv6, i486, powerpc, powerpc64, sparc64 aarch64, amd64, armv6, i386, powerpc, powerpc64, sparc64 amd64, i386, ia64, powerpc, powerpc64, sparc64 amd64, i386, ia64, powerpc, powerpc64, sparc64 amd64, arm, armel, i386, ia64, mips, mipsel, pc98, powerpc, sparc64, xbox amd64, arm, armel, i386, ia64, mips, mipsel, pc98, powerpc, sparc64, xbox alpha, amd64, i386, ia64, pc98, powerpc, sparc64, xbox alpha, amd64, i386, ia64, pc98, powerpc, sparc64 alpha, i386 alpha, i386 alpha, i386 Processor Architecture
Init Software RC RC RC RC RC RC RC RC RC RC RC RC RC RC RC RC Init Software
Journaled File Systems UFS2 SU+J UFS2 + gjournal, ZFS UFS2 + gjournal, ZFS UFS2 + gjournal, ZFS UFS2 + gjournal, ZFS UFS2 + gjournal, ZFS UFS2 + gjournal UFS2 + gjournal UFS2 + gjournal UFS2 + gjournal UFS2 + gjournal           Journaled File Systems
Multilingual Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Multilingual
Full Package List 15-current 14-stable 15.0 14.4 13.5 12.4 11.3 10.4 9.3 8.2 7.4 6.4 5.5 4.11 3.5 2.2.8 Full Package List
Package 15-CURRENT 14-STABLE 15.0 14.4 13.5 12.4 11.3 10.4 9.3 8.2 7.4 6.4 5.5 4.11 3.5 2.2.8 Package
alsa-lib (1.2.15.3) 1.2.15.3 1.2.15.3 1.2.14 1.2.14 1.2.12 1.2.2 1.1.2 1.1.2 1.0.27.2 1.0.23 1.0.23 1.0.10 -- -- -- -- alsa-lib (1.2.15.3)
amdgpu (25.0.0) 25.0.0 22.0.0 22.0.0 22.0.0 19.1.0 22.0.0 18.1.0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- amdgpu (25.0.0)
apparmor (5.0.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- apparmor (5.0.0)
apt (3.3.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.6.46 0.6.46 0.6.46 -- -- -- -- apt (3.3.1)
bash (5.3) 5.3.9 5.3.9 5.3 5.3 5.2 5.2 5.0 4.4 4.3 4.1 4.1 3.2 3.1 3.0 2.04 2.02.1 bash (5.3)
bind (9.20.22) 9.20.22 9.20.22 9.20.16 9.20.8 9.18.1 9.18.7 9.14.1 9.11.2 9.9.5 9.7.2-P3 9.7.2 9.5.0 9.3.2 9.3.0 -- 8.1.2 bind (9.20.22)
chromium (148.0.7778.167) 148.0.7778.167 148.0.7778.96 140.0.7339.80 145.0.7632.109 131.0.6778.204 -- 73.0.3683.103 60.0.3112.101 35.0.1916.153 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- chromium (148.0.7778.167)
cinnamon (6.6.8) 6.4.13 6.4.13 6.4.10 6.4.13 5.4.9 4.8.6 2.4.6 2.4.6 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- cinnamon (6.6.8)
cups (2.4.19) 2.4.19 2.4.19 2.4.14 2.4.16 2.4.11 2.4.2 2.2.10 2.2.3 1.7.1 1.4.5 1.4.6 1.3.9 1.1.23 1.1.22 -- -- cups (2.4.19)
e2fsprogs (1.47.4) 1.47.4 1.47.4 1.47.3 1.47.3 1.47.1 1.46.5 1.45.2 1.43.4 1.42.9 1.41.13 1.41.14 1.41.0 1.38 1.35 -- -- e2fsprogs (1.47.4)
ffmpeg (8.1.1) 8.1.1 8.1.1 6.1.2 8.0.1 6.1.2 4.4.3 4.1.3 3.3.3 2.1.1 0.6.1 0.6.1 cvs 0.4.9 0.4.9 -- -- ffmpeg (8.1.1)
firefox (151.0) 151.0 150.0.2 145.0.1 140.8.02 128.7.01 106.0.3 67.0.2 55.0.3 28.0.1 3.6.13 3.6.13 3.0.4 1.5.0.1 1.0 -- -- firefox (151.0)
flatpak (1.16.6) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- flatpak (1.16.6)
freetype (2.14.3) 2.14.3 2.14.3 2.13.3 2.14.1 2.13.3 2.12.1 2.9.1 2.8 2.5.3 2.4.4 2.4.4 2.3.7 2.1.10 2.1.7 1.3.1 1.1 freetype (2.14.3)
gcc (16.1.0) 14.2.0 14.2.0 15.2.0 14 13 12.2.0 8.3.0 6.4.0 4.7.3 4.3.4 4.6.0 3.4.6 3.3.6 3.2.3 -- 2.8.1 gcc (16.1.0)
gimp (3.2.4) 2.10.38 2.10.38 2.10.38 2.10.382 2.10.38 2.10.32 2.10.8 2.8.22 2.8.10 2.6.11 2.6.11 2.4.7 2.2.10 2.2.1 -- 1.0.2 gimp (3.2.4)
git (2.54.0) 2.54.0 2.54.0 2.51.0 2.52.0 2.48.1 2.38.1 2.21.0 2.13.5 1.9.0 1.7.3.5 1.7.3.5 1.6.0.1 1.2.2 -- -- -- git (2.54.0)
glibc (2.43) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- glibc (2.43)
gnome-shell (50.1) 47.10 47.10 47.10 47.10 42.4 42.4 3.28.3 3.18.5 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gnome-shell (50.1)
grub (2.14) 2.02 -- 2.02 2.02 2.02 2.02 2.00 2.00 2.00 1.98 1.98 -- 0.97 0.95 -- -- grub (2.14)
gtk (4.22.4) 4.20.4 4.20.4 4.18.6 4.18.6 4.16.12 4.8.0 3.22.29 3.22.15 3.8.8 2.22.1 2.22.1 2.12.11 2.8.11 2.4.14 1.2.8 1.0.6 gtk (4.22.4)
httpd (2.4.67) 2.4.67 2.4.67 2.4.65 2.4.66 2.4.62 2.4.54 2.4.39 2.4.27 2.4.9 2.2.17 2.2.17 2.2.9 2.2.0 2.0.52 -- -- httpd (2.4.67)
inkscape (1.4.4) 1.4.3 1.4.3 1.4.2 1.4.2 1.4 1.2.1 0.92.3 0.92.1 0.48.4 0.48.0 0.48.0 0.46 0.43 0.38.1 -- -- inkscape (1.4.4)
kmod (34.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- kmod (34.2)
krita (6.0.1) 5.2.14 5.2.14 5.2.13 5.2.14 5.2.6 5.1.1 4.1.8 3.1.2.1 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- krita (6.0.1)
LibreOffice (26.2.3) 26.2.2 26.2.2 25.8.1 25.2.2 24.2.4 7.4.2 6.2.2 5.3.4 4.1.5 -- -- 2.4.1 -- 1.1.3 -- -- LibreOffice (26.2.3)
Package 15-CURRENT 14-STABLE 15.0 14.4 13.5 12.4 11.3 10.4 9.3 8.2 7.4 6.4 5.5 4.11 3.5 2.2.8 Package
libselinux (3.10) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- libselinux (3.10)
linux (7.0.9) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- linux (7.0.9)
mariadb (12.2.2) 11.8.6 11.8.6 11.8.3 11.4.5 11.4.2 10.6.10 10.3.13 10.2.6 5.5.35 5.2.4 5.2.4 -- -- -- -- -- mariadb (12.2.2)
mate-desktop (1.28.2) 1.28.2 1.28.2 1.28.2 1.28.2 1.28.2 1.26.0 1.20.3 1.12.1 1.6.1 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mate-desktop (1.28.2)
mesa (26.0.7) 24.1.7 24.1.7 24.1.7 24.1.7 24.1.7 21.3.8 18.3.2 17.1.4 10.1.0 7.9.1 7.9.1 -- -- -- 3.2 3.0 mesa (26.0.7)
mysql (9.7.0) 9.7.0 9.7.0 3.3.0 3.3.0 3.3.0 8.0.30 8.0.16 5.7.19 5.6.17 5.1.55 5.5.9 5.0.67 5.0.18 4.1.7 3.22.32 3.22.10b mysql (9.7.0)
nautilus (50.1) 47.6 47.6 47.5 47.5 42.2 42.2 3.28.1 3.18.5 2.32.2.1 2.32.2.1 2.32.2.1 2.22.5.1 2.12.2 2.8.2 -- -- nautilus (50.1)
NVIDIA (595.71.05) 595.71.05 595.71.05 580.95.05 570.124.04 550.54.14 510.60.02 390.87 375.66 331.49 -- 270.18 -- -- -- -- -- NVIDIA (595.71.05)
openjdk (26.0.1) 26 26 24.0.2 25.0.1 17.0.1.12.1 17.0.4 12.0.0 8u131 7u51 7b122 7b122 -- -- -- -- -- openjdk (26.0.1)
openssh (10.3p1) 10.3p1 10.3p1 10.0p1 9.9p2 9.7p1 9.0p1 7.9p1 7.5p1 6.6p1 5.4p1 5.2p1 3.6p1 3.6p1 3.6p1 -- -- openssh (10.3p1)
openssl (4.0.0) 4.0.0 4.0.0 3.6.0 3.0.191 3.0.15 1.1.1q 1.1.1b 1.0.2l 1.0.1 1.0.0 1.0.0d 0.9.8h 0.9.8a 0.9.7e -- -- openssl (4.0.0)
perl (5.42.2) 5.42.2 5.42.2 5.42.0 5.40.2 5.36.3 5.36.0 5.28.1 5.24.1 5.16.3 5.12.3 5.12.3 5.8.8 5.8.8 5.8.5 -- 5.005.02 perl (5.42.2)
php (8.5.6) 8.5.6 8.5.5 8.4.13 8.4.5 8.3.8 8.1.12 7.3.6 7.1.8 5.5.10 5.3.5 5.3.5 5.2.6 5.1.2 5.0.3 -- -- php (8.5.6)
plasma-desktop (6.6.5) 6.6.5 6.6.4 6.4.5 6.3.5 6.1.2 5.24.6 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- plasma-desktop (6.6.5)
postfix (3.11.3) 3.11.2 3.11.2 3.10.4 3.10.61 3.9.11 3.7.2 3.3.4 3.2.2 2.11.0 2.8.0 2.8.0 2.5.4 2.2.9 2.1.5 -- -- postfix (3.11.3)
postgresql (18.4) 18.4 18.3 18.1 18.1 -- 14.5 11.3 9.6.4 8.4.21 9.0.3 9.0.3 8.3.3 8.1.3 7.4.6 -- -- postgresql (18.4)
Python (3.14.5) 3.15.0.b1 3.15.0.b1 3.12.11 3.14.3 3.11.11 3.11.0 3.7.3 3.6.1 2.7.6 2.6.6 3.1.3 2.5.2 2.4.2 2.4 1.5.2 1.5.1 Python (3.14.5)
qt (6.11.1) 6.10.2 6.10.2 6.9.3 6.10.1 5.15.5 5.12.1 5.7.1 4.8.5 4.7.1 4.7.1 3.3.8 3.3.5 3.3.3 1.45 1.41 qt (6.11.1)
samba (4.24.2) 4.23.7 4.23.7 4.20.7 4.20.7 4.19.7 4.13.17 4.8.9 4.6.6 4.1.6 3.5.6 3.5.6 3.0.32 3.0.21b 3.0.10 -- 1.9.18.10 samba (4.24.2)
systemd (260.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- systemd (260.1)
thunderbird (150.0.2) 151.0 150.0.2 145.0 148.0 128.7.1 102.4.1 60.7.1 52.3.0 24.4.0 3.1.7 3.1.7 2.0.0.16 1.5 1.0 -- -- thunderbird (150.0.2)
vim (9.2) 9.2 9.2 9.1 9.2 9.1 9.0 8.1 8.0 7.4 7.3 7.3 7.2 6.4 6.3 5.6 5.3 vim (9.2)
vlc (3.0.23) 3.0.22 3.0.22 3.0.21 3.0.22 3.0.21 3.0.17.4 3.0.6 2.2.6 2.1.2 1.1.7 1.1.7 0.8.6i 0.8.4a -- -- -- vlc (3.0.23)
wayland (1.25.0) 1.24.0 1.24.0 1.24.0 1.24.0 1.23.1 1.21.0 1.16.0 1.13.0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- wayland (1.25.0)
xfdesktop (4.20.2) 4.20.2 4.20.2 4.20.1 4.20.1 4.20.0 4.16.1 4.12.4 4.12.3 4.10.2 4.6.2 4.6.2 4.4.2 4.2.3.2 4.0.6 -- -- xfdesktop (4.20.2)
xorg-server (21.1.22) 21.1.22 21.1.22 21.1.18 21.1.201 21.1.14 21.1.4 1.18.4 1.18.4 1.7.7 1.7.5 1.7.5 1.4.2 (6.9.0) -- -- -- xorg-server (21.1.22)

Reader Ratings
Reader supplied reviews for FreeBSD

Average rating
8.7
from 82 review(s)



What are your thoughts on FreeBSD?
Please include a few pros and a few cons, along with your overall impression of the operating system.
Our FAQ page has tips on writing a good mini-review.

Version:

Rating:    out of 10

Your review (minimum 250 words):




Past reviews - sort by:

Version: 14-STABLE
Rating: 10
Date: 2026-05-08
Country: Japan
Votes: 10


For me, the value of FreeBSD lies in its structural elegance (clean FHS) and its simplicity (no systemd).
It’s true that driver support isn’t as broad as Linux, particularly for modern GPUs.
However, for those who know how to work around these constraints, it is a rewardingly stable and obedient OS.
It’s an OS that respects the user's intent.
Furthermore, maintenance has become much easier than in the past; tools like freebsd-update make system upgrades seamless and straightforward.
I highly encourage more people to give it a try. If you value a consistent and well-documented system, you might find that FreeBSD is exactly what you’ve been looking for.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 15-CURRENT
Rating: 10
Date: 2026-04-28
Country: Sweden
Votes: 29


FreeBSD saved my desktop experience!

Current nouveau drivers in Linux mess up my laptop's screen so I can't use a desktop properly. I tried submitting a bug report at freedesktop or whatever they're called but I grew tired of waiting for months with no response and no action, indeed the bug report still exists without any movement.

I thought I was destined to use outdated v.12.x. Debian just to have a desktop that works. I tried new versions of Debian, Mint, you name it, all had the same problem. I tried ancient nvidia drivers (390?) for MX Linux and they worked, but they have tons of security vulns and they black out the virtual terminals so that's no good, plus I would have to continue using an old version of MX Linux which doesn't receive updates anymore - no thanks!

So, on a whim, I tried FreeBSD. BEHOLD! My desktop is back and usable again! No, I'm not using nvidia drivers, just whatever FreeBSD provides as an alternative. As I began setting up my system (thanks to "desktop-installer" for a smooth experience installing XFCE!) I was amazed by how simple the whole thing was. Complexity lies within of course, but for the most part, coming from using Linux for years and the command line, it was smooth sailing! My biggest problem was trying to stop typing "dpkg" instead of "pkg!" So many years using Debian, I swear it's ingrained in my system.

Thankfully, I could use ifconfig and netstat, while some fool on Linux thought it would be smart to retire net-tools for a lame alternative. Thank you FreeBSD for sanity!

I was especially happy that my laptop's speakers didn't make a loud "pop" noise anymore like they used to in 12.x and older versions of FreeBSD.

I've fallen in love all over again. While I may still use some Linux distros for niche experiences, FreeBSD is where it's at! Experience it for yourself and join in the romance.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 15.0
Rating: 10
Date: 2026-03-15
Country: United States
Votes: 39


This is probably my favorite open source operating system. Very stable with good documentation. The ZFS file system is awesome. I was already used to it from my Solaris days. If you're unfamiliar with it Michael W. Lucas has some good books on it. A quick Amazon search will lead you to them. His Absolute FreeBSD book is excellent as well.

The thing I love the most about FreeBSD is that it actually feels like Unix.

The desktop side of things isn't as polished as Linux, but still works really well and is usable. I highly recommend you give it a chance.



Was this review helpful? Yes No

See all 82 reader reviews of FreeBSD...



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