3 ms·

I have never tried any *BSD systems. What are they best suited for? Dev environments? Servers?

jamal-kumar 3y ago
With OpenBSD in particular I like it because from the default install it's got a built in web server [1] which can handle most use cases. I can pretty much just put it anywhere and trust in the secure defaults that it provides, throw my own software on that server, and then have a pretty good standard from OS level to my own software on how secure that's going to be. It doesn't change much [2]. Linux doesn't really offer that. Yeah it's got PACKAGES that offer web server solutions (apache, nginx, whatever else) but then I gotta maintain those. I find myself having to patch everything on my OpenBSD boxes way less if I stick to how it seems to be intended to be used - When all I've got to maintain are my own secure os installation + configuration, and my own software that I wrote myself, literally no packages, it's really cool. [1] https://man.openbsd.org/httpd.8 https://man.openbsd.org/httpd.8 [2] https://www.openbsd.org/errata73.html https://www.openbsd.org/errata73.html
- detourdog 3y ago
  The documentation and the source code is all you need to do anything with an OpenBSD system. There is no need to track down anything the OpenBSD doesn't explicitly provide or document. Sometimes you have to think real simple.
loeg 3y ago
They're best suited for people who had a good experience with a BSD in the 90s and are sentimental about that. Otherwise, there's really no reason to go with them over a Linux system.
- ChoHag 3y ago
  [dead]
- detourdog 3y ago
  Or people that enjoy a consistent environment without mindless churn.
  - loeg 3y ago
    No, I actually meant what I wrote the first time.
    - detourdog 3y ago
      Maybe you are blind to the benefits other see.
      - loeg 3y ago
        Nope. I have extensive experience with both.
- jjav 3y ago
  BSDs (FreeBSD in this case) are used in production today, a notable example is Netflix: https://people.freebsd.org/~gallatin/talks/euro2021.pdf https://people.freebsd.org/~gallatin/talks/euro2021.pdf
  - accrual 3y ago
    The Nintendo Switch and Sony PS3/PS4/PS5 operating systems are also derived from FreeBSD.
    - ninjin 3y ago
      I think it is sadly not true for the Nintendo Switch [1], so it seems that it is still mainly Apple’s macOS and Sony’s PlayStation 3 and 4 [2,3] (could not find any hard facts on the PlayStation 5, but it is still early days). [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Switch_system_software#Open_source_components https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Switch_system_softwar... [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3_system_software https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3_system_software [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbis_OS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbis_OS
      - accrual 3y ago
        Ah, thanks for helping remove my apparently common misconception. Thanks!
      - tpush 3y ago
        macOS and its derivatives are not a BSD.
        ninjin 3y ago
        Reality is more complex than that: https://wiki.freebsd.org/Myths#FreeBSD_is_Just_macOS_Without_the_Good_Bits https://wiki.freebsd.org/Myths#FreeBSD_is_Just_macOS_Without... https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Darwin/Conceptual/KernelProgramming/BSD/BSD.html https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Da... You have also had patches go from Apple straight into the FreeBSD tree with improvements they made on their side. So, yes, it certainly is not as easy a case as one would make for Sony’s forks, but the answer is certainly not a resounding “no”.
- NexRebular 3y ago
  For me there's really no reason to go with linux over BSD (or illumos). For the occasional linux-locked software one can always run lx-zones or full bhyve HVMs anyway.

With OpenBSD in particular I like it because from the default install it's got a built in web server [1] which can handle most use cases. I can pretty much just put it anywhere and trust in the secure defaults that it provides, throw my own software on that server, and then have a pretty good standard from OS level to my own software on how secure that's going to be. It doesn't change much [2]. Linux doesn't really offer that. Yeah it's got PACKAGES that offer web server solutions (apache, nginx, whatever else) but then I gotta maintain those. I find myself having to patch everything on my OpenBSD boxes way less if I stick to how it seems to be intended to be used - When all I've got to maintain are my own secure os installation + configuration, and my own software that I wrote myself, literally no packages, it's really cool. [1] https://man.openbsd.org/httpd.8 https://man.openbsd.org/httpd.8 [2] https://www.openbsd.org/errata73.html https://www.openbsd.org/errata73.html

detourdog 3y ago
The documentation and the source code is all you need to do anything with an OpenBSD system. There is no need to track down anything the OpenBSD doesn't explicitly provide or document. Sometimes you have to think real simple.

loeg 3y ago

They're best suited for people who had a good experience with a BSD in the 90s and are sentimental about that. Otherwise, there's really no reason to go with them over a Linux system.

ChoHag 3y ago
[dead]
detourdog 3y ago
Or people that enjoy a consistent environment without mindless churn.
- loeg 3y ago
  No, I actually meant what I wrote the first time.
  - detourdog 3y ago
    Maybe you are blind to the benefits other see.
    - loeg 3y ago
      Nope. I have extensive experience with both.
jjav 3y ago
BSDs (FreeBSD in this case) are used in production today, a notable example is Netflix: https://people.freebsd.org/~gallatin/talks/euro2021.pdf https://people.freebsd.org/~gallatin/talks/euro2021.pdf
- accrual 3y ago
  The Nintendo Switch and Sony PS3/PS4/PS5 operating systems are also derived from FreeBSD.
  - ninjin 3y ago
    I think it is sadly not true for the Nintendo Switch [1], so it seems that it is still mainly Apple’s macOS and Sony’s PlayStation 3 and 4 [2,3] (could not find any hard facts on the PlayStation 5, but it is still early days). [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Switch_system_software#Open_source_components https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Switch_system_softwar... [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3_system_software https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3_system_software [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbis_OS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbis_OS
    - accrual 3y ago
      Ah, thanks for helping remove my apparently common misconception. Thanks!
    - tpush 3y ago
      macOS and its derivatives are not a BSD.
      - ninjin 3y ago
        Reality is more complex than that: https://wiki.freebsd.org/Myths#FreeBSD_is_Just_macOS_Without_the_Good_Bits https://wiki.freebsd.org/Myths#FreeBSD_is_Just_macOS_Without... https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Darwin/Conceptual/KernelProgramming/BSD/BSD.html https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Da... You have also had patches go from Apple straight into the FreeBSD tree with improvements they made on their side. So, yes, it certainly is not as easy a case as one would make for Sony’s forks, but the answer is certainly not a resounding “no”.
NexRebular 3y ago
For me there's really no reason to go with linux over BSD (or illumos). For the occasional linux-locked software one can always run lx-zones or full bhyve HVMs anyway.