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Show HN: Grsh – A high-performance shell for FreeBSD written in Rust

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Re: Show HN: Grsh – A high-performance shell for FreeBSD written in Rust

#34

Post by antomal »

wezm wrote: post #33

What does the "focus on the FreeBSD ecosystem" and "feels native to FreeBSD" mean in practice? I.e. are there FreeBSD specific features being utilised that prevent it working on Linux, or other BSDs?

Great question. In practice, 'native to FreeBSD' means a few things for grsh:

System Integration: I’m prioritizing first-class support for FreeBSD-specific tools and environments (like Jails and the Ports system). While many shells treat BSD as an afterthought, I want grsh to feel like it was built specifically for the FreeBSD base system.

Technical Implementation: Currently, I’m leveraging specific behaviors of the FreeBSD terminal driver and signal handling. While the Rust codebase is portable in theory, I’m not 'watering down' the features to guarantee Linux compatibility yet. I want to exploit FreeBSD’s strengths first.

License & Philosophy: The project is under the BSD-3-Clause license, which aligns with the ecosystem's preference for permissive licensing.

Can it work on Linux/other BSDs? Yes, it can be compiled on Linux, but you might find that certain job control nuances or terminal optimizations are currently 'tuned' for the FreeBSD kernel. I’d rather have it work perfectly on one OS than 'okay-ish' on all of them.

Re: Show HN: Grsh – A high-performance shell for FreeBSD written in Rust

#35

Post by antomal »

ifh-hn wrote: post #31

I've never seen so many people create accounts just to comment on a Show HN before.

I noticed that too, and I can assure you it’s purely organic. I’m just as surprised as you are!

I suspect the project might have been shared in some FreeBSD or Rust-specific IRC channels or forums outside of HN, which brought in people who aren't regular HN users but are passionate about these specific technologies.

It’s exciting to see new faces, but I definitely didn’t expect this level of influx!

Re: Show HN: Grsh – A high-performance shell for FreeBSD written in Rust

#36

Post by antomal »

tubs wrote: post #32
ifh-hn wrote: post #31

I've never seen so many people create accounts just to comment on a Show HN before.

Yeah what the heck is happening here? Agents gone wild?

I can promise you there are no agents or bots here—just a solo dev who's been working on a Rust shell for FreeBSD in his spare time.

I think the 'weird' influx of new accounts is likely because this got picked up by some FreeBSD/Rust communities or Telegram/IRC groups where people aren't usually on HN. It’s my first time posting a project here, and I'm honestly just trying to keep up with the technical questions!

If anyone is skeptical, I'd much rather talk about the code, the job control implementation, or the FreeBSD porting process. That’s why I’m here!

Re: Show HN: Grsh – A high-performance shell for FreeBSD written in Rust

#38

Post by antomal »

unmole wrote: post #37

> native to FreeBSD but works seamlessly on macOS What does that even mean? In what way do other shells not feel native to FreeBSD?

That’s a fair point. To be concrete, 'native to FreeBSD' in the context of grsh refers to three design choices where general-purpose shells often feel like guests:

Direct System Integration: Most shells target a generic POSIX or GNU/Linux environment. grsh is being built with FreeBSD-specific subsystems in mind—specifically Jails awareness (knowing if you are inside one and interacting with it) and planned ZFS integration for smarter path completions and status reporting.

The 'Base System' Philosophy: FreeBSD users generally prefer the 'base system' vs 'ports' distinction. I've chosen the BSD-3-Clause license and focused on keeping dependencies minimal to align with the FreeBSD architectural style, rather than bringing in the heavy baggage often found in Linux-first projects.

Signal & TTY Handling: Implementing job control directly against the FreeBSD termios and signal delivery nuances. While Rust provides abstractions, the 'feel' of a shell depends on how it handles these OS-specific edge cases.

Regarding macOS: It’s 'seamless' because macOS (via Darwin) shares that BSD heritage. The implementation for process management and terminal control translates much more naturally to macOS than it does to Linux, which often requires specific workarounds for its PTY/TTY behavior.

In short: I’m building for the BSD crowd first, not as an afterthought.

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