4 ms·

I've largely given up on OpenBSD. The security "track record" isn't really much of a track record when you consider that their only claim pertains to "the defa

by na85 6y ago

I've largely given up on OpenBSD. The security "track record" isn't really much of a track record when you consider that their only claim pertains to "the default install" which frankly doesn't comprise a very useful set of tools for doing anything other than a router. But if you want a router, there's pfsense. Anyways. My experience with OpenBSD mirrors yours. It's easy to set up if your desired end state is an X desktop and ethernet networking. 802.11 in OpenBSD is an exercise in patience to say the least, and the last time I looked (admittedly back in 2016 or so) most guides were still recommending wpa_supplicant and config file editing with a straight face. I'm Canadian, so I really want to like The Little Canadian OS That Could but honestly it's second- or third-best at everything and best-in-class at nothing. I don't know why a person would reach for OpenBSD in 2020 when Debian exists, except perhaps if you want to enable corporations to make parasitic profits from others' hard work. And even then there's FreeBSD for your playstation and for pfsense, and NetBSD for your toaster. I dunno, it just seems like they make so much hay out of being secure, but the "secure OS" isn't much of an OS at all in terms of functionality.

fogihujy 6y ago
There are some reasons for chosing OpenBSD, and it does make a quite capable desktop. It still lacks the "just works" approach of Linux distributions like Mint, and the performance of lean distros like Debian. That being said, OpenBSD has an excellent installer, amazing docs, and I did run it as a desktop for a while. Went back to Linux because I wanted to play Dwarf Fortress natively of all things. Things don't neccesarily work better with Linux, but I definitely spend less time tinkering now. Which could be a good or a bad thing depending on whom you ask.
- na85 6y ago
  Eh, I find the docs aren't as good as people say. If your question is "where is the config file for rc located?" then sure, the manual will tell you. If your question is "what options are allowed in rc.conf and what is the syntax?" then your answer is not found in the manual page for rc but from a random Reddit post your Google search brought up.
  - upofadown 6y ago
    >If your question is "what options are allowed in rc.conf and what is the syntax?" then your answer is not found in the manual page for rc... ... which is why you would look at the rc.conf man page for that: * https://man.openbsd.org/rc.conf https://man.openbsd.org/rc.conf
    - na85 6y ago
      That's nice and must have been updated. A year or two ago when playing with wireguard that wasn't in there.
      - pehtis 6y ago
        It first appeared in OpenBSD 2.3 in 1998: https://man.openbsd.org/OpenBSD-2.3/rc.conf https://man.openbsd.org/OpenBSD-2.3/rc.conf Are you sure that you checked or did you assume that it wasn't there based on you Linux experience?
      - apetresc 6y ago
        Actually, that particular man page was added in FreeBSD 2.2.5, released in 1997. It's just that a lot of people don't know man pages exist with names other than the binaries.
johnr2 6y ago
I switched my desktop to OpenBSD a couple of years ago after ~18 years on Debian. It takes less time to set up the way I want than recent versions of Debian. I make heavy use of traditional Unix CLI programs and don't use a heavyweight DE, so I guess I'm not a typical desktop user. I still run a couple of dedicated audio workstations on Linux as I need preemptive scheduling (not available on OpenBSD) and Linux drivers.
nix23 6y ago
>except perhaps if you want to enable corporations to make parasitic profits from others' hard work. Why do you think that's true? The GPL just protects you work if someone else wants to re-distribute your code. Look at Google, they can have their own private Gnu/Linux (no i don't talk about android) and never ever have to opensource it.
- kwhitefoot 6y ago
  What does the GPL have to do with OpenBSD?
  - nix23 6y ago
    OP talks about BSD vs GPL
LargoLasskhyfv 6y ago
You already have The Little Canadian OS That not only Could, but DID! Quantum Software Systems / QNX :-)
- dddw 6y ago
  I Remember running it live from floppy
johnisgood 6y ago
> I've largely given up on OpenBSD. The only reason I am not using OpenBSD for desktop is because it does not have an NVIDIA driver. This has been the case for a very long time. I am not holding my breath for its support, for sure. For servers I use Arch Linux and OpenBSD.

by na85 6y ago

fogihujy 6y ago

There are some reasons for chosing OpenBSD, and it does make a quite capable desktop. It still lacks the "just works" approach of Linux distributions like Mint, and the performance of lean distros like Debian. That being said, OpenBSD has an excellent installer, amazing docs, and I did run it as a desktop for a while. Went back to Linux because I wanted to play Dwarf Fortress natively of all things. Things don't neccesarily work better with Linux, but I definitely spend less time tinkering now. Which could be a good or a bad thing depending on whom you ask.

na85 6y ago
Eh, I find the docs aren't as good as people say. If your question is "where is the config file for rc located?" then sure, the manual will tell you. If your question is "what options are allowed in rc.conf and what is the syntax?" then your answer is not found in the manual page for rc but from a random Reddit post your Google search brought up.
- upofadown 6y ago
  >If your question is "what options are allowed in rc.conf and what is the syntax?" then your answer is not found in the manual page for rc... ... which is why you would look at the rc.conf man page for that: * https://man.openbsd.org/rc.conf https://man.openbsd.org/rc.conf
  - na85 6y ago
    That's nice and must have been updated. A year or two ago when playing with wireguard that wasn't in there.
    - pehtis 6y ago
      It first appeared in OpenBSD 2.3 in 1998: https://man.openbsd.org/OpenBSD-2.3/rc.conf https://man.openbsd.org/OpenBSD-2.3/rc.conf Are you sure that you checked or did you assume that it wasn't there based on you Linux experience?
    - apetresc 6y ago
      Actually, that particular man page was added in FreeBSD 2.2.5, released in 1997. It's just that a lot of people don't know man pages exist with names other than the binaries.

johnr2 6y ago

I switched my desktop to OpenBSD a couple of years ago after ~18 years on Debian. It takes less time to set up the way I want than recent versions of Debian. I make heavy use of traditional Unix CLI programs and don't use a heavyweight DE, so I guess I'm not a typical desktop user. I still run a couple of dedicated audio workstations on Linux as I need preemptive scheduling (not available on OpenBSD) and Linux drivers.

nix23 6y ago

>except perhaps if you want to enable corporations to make parasitic profits from others' hard work. Why do you think that's true? The GPL just protects you work if someone else wants to re-distribute your code. Look at Google, they can have their own private Gnu/Linux (no i don't talk about android) and never ever have to opensource it.

kwhitefoot 6y ago
What does the GPL have to do with OpenBSD?
- nix23 6y ago
  OP talks about BSD vs GPL

LargoLasskhyfv 6y ago

You already have The Little Canadian OS That not only Could, but DID! Quantum Software Systems / QNX :-)

dddw 6y ago
I Remember running it live from floppy

johnisgood 6y ago

> I've largely given up on OpenBSD. The only reason I am not using OpenBSD for desktop is because it does not have an NVIDIA driver. This has been the case for a very long time. I am not holding my breath for its support, for sure. For servers I use Arch Linux and OpenBSD.