4 ms·

So I'm the author of the linked post. I hadn't ever used OpenBSD seriously in a desktop setting. I've installed it for servers to play around with. And to answ

by rufius 12y ago

So I'm the author of the linked post. I hadn't ever used OpenBSD seriously in a desktop setting. I've installed it for servers to play around with. And to answer your question "Is this a joke?", my writing is partly in jest and partly in seriousness. The fact that I had the laptop configured in about 45 mins (still faster than setting up Windows) was a surprise to me. It's faster than attempts at setting up Linux on it. Exception might be Debian but I've slept since then. Regarding configs, those are just preferences. With the exception of the trackpoint middle click button, I don't actually need any of the other things as some nice OpenBSD devs have informed me. For example, the PF settings I included aren't necessary. edit: expound on configs

Oletros 12y ago
You can install Ubuntu, Fedora or Windows 8 in less than 45 minutes
frou_dh 12y ago
You're the author. There's no "So" about it.
- geographomics 12y ago
  Starting a sentence with "so" (or any other conjunction) is a valid stylistic preference.
  - frou_dh 12y ago
    How about a paragraph?
ams6110 12y ago
I would say that to really use OpenBSD as a desktop OS, the login.conf tweaks are non-optional. Otherwise you will find "big" software like browsers with more than a few tabs open, Office suites, etc. being killed due to the default memory limits.
- clarry 12y ago
  Or you can do as I do and only change the limits for these big applications. In which case you don't touch login.conf. Note though that in current the login.conf defaults for the default user have been raised on amd64 at least: http://cvsweb.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/src/etc/etc.amd64/login.conf.diff?r1=1.2&r2=1.3 http://cvsweb.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/src/etc/etc.amd64/l...
- tedunangst 12y ago
  Minor correction: firefox (at least) isn't "killed" due to memory limits. firefox segfaults because it tries to allocate memory and doesn't check for null. chrome in effect works around the memory limit by using one process per tab.
rhinoceraptor 12y ago
I use the same laptop (Thinkpad X201) as my daily driver. It's got several generations old Intel wireless and video, which is supported out of the box just about everywhere. When I installed OpenBSD on it, I could get Gnome 3.10 working but I was unable to find a good way to use the wireless working without having to use the console.
- stsp 12y ago
  Yes, unfortunately there is no tooling for configuring wifi graphically. The existing tools from Linux land are tightly coupled with frameworks that don't exist on OpenBSD (network manager, linux mac80211 ioctls, and probably systemd in the near future). That's not a blocker in principle since we could patch the software, but it takes some effort. It would be great if someone could get this done.
tw04 12y ago
What does "configured" entail that it takes you more than 45 minutes to get Windows up and running? The Windows 8 install is less than 15 minutes start to finish even from a USB dvd drive. Your options are: select the drive, put in a license key if you have it, pick a username and password. Windows 10 is faster still. If you're talking about changing settings or installing apps after the fact, that can all be slipstreamed. In Linux-land, you can do all of the above as well with kickstart/derivatives.

by rufius 12y ago

Oletros 12y ago

You can install Ubuntu, Fedora or Windows 8 in less than 45 minutes

frou_dh 12y ago

You're the author. There's no "So" about it.

geographomics 12y ago
Starting a sentence with "so" (or any other conjunction) is a valid stylistic preference.
- frou_dh 12y ago
  How about a paragraph?

ams6110 12y ago

I would say that to really use OpenBSD as a desktop OS, the login.conf tweaks are non-optional. Otherwise you will find "big" software like browsers with more than a few tabs open, Office suites, etc. being killed due to the default memory limits.

clarry 12y ago
Or you can do as I do and only change the limits for these big applications. In which case you don't touch login.conf. Note though that in current the login.conf defaults for the default user have been raised on amd64 at least: http://cvsweb.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/src/etc/etc.amd64/login.conf.diff?r1=1.2&r2=1.3 http://cvsweb.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/src/etc/etc.amd64/l...
tedunangst 12y ago
Minor correction: firefox (at least) isn't "killed" due to memory limits. firefox segfaults because it tries to allocate memory and doesn't check for null. chrome in effect works around the memory limit by using one process per tab.

rhinoceraptor 12y ago

I use the same laptop (Thinkpad X201) as my daily driver. It's got several generations old Intel wireless and video, which is supported out of the box just about everywhere. When I installed OpenBSD on it, I could get Gnome 3.10 working but I was unable to find a good way to use the wireless working without having to use the console.

stsp 12y ago
Yes, unfortunately there is no tooling for configuring wifi graphically. The existing tools from Linux land are tightly coupled with frameworks that don't exist on OpenBSD (network manager, linux mac80211 ioctls, and probably systemd in the near future). That's not a blocker in principle since we could patch the software, but it takes some effort. It would be great if someone could get this done.

tw04 12y ago

What does "configured" entail that it takes you more than 45 minutes to get Windows up and running? The Windows 8 install is less than 15 minutes start to finish even from a USB dvd drive. Your options are: select the drive, put in a license key if you have it, pick a username and password. Windows 10 is faster still. If you're talking about changing settings or installing apps after the fact, that can all be slipstreamed. In Linux-land, you can do all of the above as well with kickstart/derivatives.