Free Open Source Network Operating Systems

Sat Mar 9 16:08:00 UTC 2019

What free, opensouce, network operating systems currently exist that run on
whitebox broadcom or other merchant silicon switches?

I know Cumulus is very popular, but I don't believe they have a free
version that runs on whitebox switches right? Only on a virtual machine
from what I can tell.

I think if one of these vendors would release a free and truly opensource
network operating system, with the option for paid support if needed, then
whitebox switching would really take off. This would be similar to the
Redhat model, but for the networking world.

Right now, the cost of the whitebox plus a paid network operating system
seems to equal the same cost as a discounted Juniper, Cisco, or Arista. I
am not seeing the savings on paper.

If we could just buy the whitebox hardware, and have a free operating
system on there, then financially whitebox switches would be half the cost
of a similar Cisco switch after discount.

Am I missing something?
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