“OpenBSD‘s Theo de Raadt has bumped the version identifier from 3.7-current to 3.8-beta in CVS HEAD. Now is an especially good time to test snapshots.”
“OpenBSD‘s Theo de Raadt has bumped the version identifier from 3.7-current to 3.8-beta in CVS HEAD. Now is an especially good time to test snapshots.”
OpenBSD not only runs like clockwork — new versions are also released like clockwork.
I write this as my OpenBSD PF firewall blocks out the world. Love the operating system. I recommend everyone throw it on a VMWare session to play with. You can use it as a desktop but it shines on server stuff. I learned more from OpenBSD than any other Unix endevaor.
One of the things I love about it is due to alot of the framework that came from NetBSD. Because of the wonderful driver architecture, damned near all supported hardware can (and do) have that support built into the generic kernel, without taking up that much space.
Although it’s hardly difficult to make FreeBSD (for example) load an appropriate sound card driver on boot, the simplicity of having the support built-in is refreshing; one less tweak to make upon doing a fresh install.
In a few years when OpenBSD has kernel support for threads, and a unified buffer cache, I’ll be hard pressed to recommend anything else to someone who needs to use a Unix-like OS.
That said, it’s best feature, as always, is security through quality control. What a concept! ;^)
Great news! There is a B&W G3 and a SS20, just waiting to upgrade — if they had faces, they’d be smiling.
OpenBSD for me, is what UNIX means to me. Simplicity and security at it’s finest. I know there will be those times when you need xyz app, and it only will only run on xyz OS, but, for my needs, and more importantly, my users needs, OpenBSD has won the race time and time again.
As far as mindset goes, I’d rather have a Theo at the helm than a Linus or Bill anyday… Theo is hardcore–right on!
There is a B&W G3
You mean H&K G3 ?
Whah? Blue & White G3 is what I was talking about, what is H&K?
Whah? Blue & White G3 is what I was talking about, what is H&K?
Nevermind,wrong forum:-)
Funny.
I’ve found it interesting that linux guys always say that
BSD is dead and that it’s being left behind by the linux
kernel.
It seems pretty easy to get left behind when your competiter(linux) can intergrate parts of your code in you their project. But you are unable to use code from their project due to their restrictive licencing.
But still BSD seems to be holding it’s own.
– Jessta
“I’ve found it interesting that […]”
Err.. you find interesting what clueless zealots say?
Sorry man, I have to ask: are you *sure* you’re a BSD user?..
I wrote..
Err.. you find interesting what clueless zealots say?
Sorry man, I have to ask: are you *sure* you’re a BSD user?..
Obviously, “clueless zealots” isn’t referred to all linux users, but to people who say certain stupid things – linux users or not, btw.
And my doubting the guy being a BSD user was, not by chance, followed by this thing –>
<– if you care to notice.
Maybe making a little effort to *understand*, before modding down, would be nice. 😐
A large part of that is because of the lack of cohesive direction that the development of Linux has, it’s being done by people all over with no goal. Because of that it easy for the more focused projects to be better than Linux-based ones in many areas, while Linux-based projects can be seen as better overall.
Another part is that the code is there, if Linux had something a BSD wanted it could be read and reengineered based on the the concepts illustrated in the code that is freely available.
Just because the code itself cannot be used does not mean that it cannot be useful.
OpenBSD is, contrary to popular belief, very friendly to the administrator. At least, that was my perception coming from Linux. The system is designed as coherent whole, taut and well crafted. The documentation is wonderful, both the FAQ and the man pages. Man pages on OpenBSD are what man pages are supposed to be: real updated information. Linux man pages, by comparison, are a lump of outdated disinformation.
OTOH, it is positioning itself as even a rational choice for any UNIX user, not only sysadmins, as the number of ports and packages grow. Unfortunately, there are people out there who don’t design software according to UNIX standards, so part of OpenBSD’s problems in terms of available software comes from a smaller user base that has to debug software made by people with no concern wrt portability. But “that which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” 😉 The cross-polination that is made possible due to the same BSD heritage amongst all the BSDs is a Good Thing too.
Another problem with OpenBSD is that some proprietary stuff is not available. This is not their fault. This is not Linux, where users are smug with their Java, Flash or Skype software. OpenBSD remains true to the hacker spirit of the BSD Unix pioneers, a beautiful heritage.
The security track record speaks for itself in terms of code quality. It is a reflection of a deep understanding of security, UNIX, and C programming. All hail OpenBSD !!
> Linux man pages, by comparison, are a lump of outdated disinformation.
Even worse, try and Google on doing something with Linux. You end up wading through hundreds of websites that are so outdated you want to go running down the street screaming like a nutter. The least people could do would be to put the date of publication and for which versions of what the pages where written for.
On my PII 128RAM 333Mhz OpenBSD was even more response
than Vector linux or slackware..only maybe
puppy or feather linux came close in terms of low
latency and quick start time of apps.
Are you sure there is NO way to get some kind
of Java or Flash working..maybe under linux emulation?
You can get Java working, only problem is that you’ll have to build the port yourself since Sun’s license prevents OpenBSD from shipping a precompiled package.
“BSD is dying” is mostly a joke. I haven’t really met any linux users that has badmouthed BSD. Accusing Theo for being paranoid and insane, sure, but when they say that it is often in a half admiring way.
I really like OpenBSD – I’m running it on a file server and on a firewall. The former runs on military surplus server (dual P3 @ 500 MHz) and the latter on a 233 MHz P2. Both are more than adequate as servers. I’ve tried running these as workstations, but I have to admit that the pain of Java and Flash keep me running Linux and FreeBSD as desktops. OpenBSD runs X.org great, without running a config app, startx just worked. KDE also comes up nicely, but for some reason its configured to start an x-terminal rather than ‘startkde’.
With a little polish on the KDE configuration and up to date instructions on getting Java and Flash to work (even if this includes downloading from Sun), I could be quite happy with OpenBSD workstations. But its just too much of a pain to have any Flash or Java enabled website to fail.
Finally, I would like to add my 2 cents on the “BSD is dying” flaps. As far as I can tell, this is almost always a joke. Its like “Your mama” jokes/insults (e.g., ‘Your mama’s so fat that when she lies around the house, she lies around the house.’ is just play on words. The teller simply doesn’t care if my mother is still wears clothing from the ‘petite’ section, this is meant to be a joke or a challenge to verbal sparring.) These jokes have taken on a life of their own and any truth behind the joke is purely coincidental. Similarly, “BSD is dying” is either a joke or a playful challange to discuss operating systems with someone whose world doesn’t revolve around Redmond.
I must be the only one that hates both Flash and Java, I’m glad that the corporations that produce both refuse to support OpenBSD – I’d hate to see that garbage go to the last security focused bastion.
More people get virii and adverts through usage of Java and Flash than any other browser-related utility, these are insecure programmes which people should avoid, so why add these risks to an OpenBSD system, compromising all the hard work done to secure it?
Anyways – it’s not actually too hard to get both running, just read the misc and ports mailing lists. Flash works with Opera and Java works on the system and Opera runs on the system – all through the Linux emulation layer.
> More people get virii and adverts through usage of Java and Flash than any other browser-related utility, these are insecure programmes which people should avoid, so why add these risks to an OpenBSD system, compromising all the hard work done to secure it?
I hate when websites use Java, too (I disabled it). But Java is much more than the annoying Java applets ! Many great applications are written in Java (e.g. Eclipse) so, depending on your needs, a Java runtime environment is not always an option.
It is not a problem anyway as Java runs on OpenBSD.
Dude you serviously have a different definition of a great application than I do – if there isn’t a programme for what I need already around in C then I don’t need it.
I’ve been using it for my firewall since 2.9 and it’s one of the finest Unix-like systems I’ve ever used. The proprietary Microseft Windows XP piece of shit system can’t even touch it when it comes to reliability and security.
Amen to that, and the stability of OpenBSD is simply amazing, I’ve been using it for firewalls since 2.7 was released, my current system has an uptime of 209 days (upgraded the hardware in january…)
🙂