The Daemonless Irony: Why We Chose s6 for FreeBSD Containers

When the mission is to build native FreeBSD OCI images that run in Jails without a heavy background daemon on the host, the project name basically writes itself: daemonless.io. The goal is simplicity, transparency, and architectural purity. So, it is only natural that the very first thing we did was install a suite of tools designed specifically to manage, supervise, and run… daemons. It is a bit like starting a “Car-Free” lifestyle and then immediately buying a fleet of high-end electric scooters. Technically, the name still holds up, but you’re still getting around on wheels. We might be “daemonless” on the host, but inside the container, we’ve hired the most efficient, C-based babysitter in the business. ...

April 4, 2026 · 10 min · Michael Johnson
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Why I Built Daemonless

I’ve been a FreeBSD user since the late 90s. From 2002 to 2010, I was a ports committer working on the GNOME and Multimedia teams. I have always felt more “at home” with FreeBSD. There is a logic and cohesiveness to the Base System + Ports approach that just clicks for me in a way Linux distros often don’t. But the world changed. The OCI (Docker) container workflow took over, and for good reason: immutable infrastructure and easy updates are incredible for sanity. ...

January 13, 2026 · 2 min · Michael Johnson