OPENBSD FACT CHECK: USE OR NOT USE TEST

OPENBSD: WHY DO NOT USE

Why I Abandoned OpenBSD and Why You Should Too…

Dear OpenBSD developers and users:

Regretfully, I have decided to abandon OpenBSD and thought I would share my reasoning with this list. I thought the 4th of July was a good date to do so since my reasons address national security implications. As a group of people who take development, security, and privacy seriously, I know you will want to know why I made the drastic decision to abandon OpenBSD and never look back.

OpenBSD Doesn't Support 64-Bit Intel

Hi guys.

I’m a civil engineer by day and use OpenBSD at night, but I’m trying to do high-end CAD on my home PC and OpenBSD doesn’t support 64-bit Intel chips.

Don't believe me? It says so very clearly at the OpenBSD/amd64 page: “All versions of the AMD Athlon 64 processors and their clones are supported.” But does not mention or list any Intel chips. Not one.

Wtf? I can do CAD on my i7-980X under Windows 7 SP 1, but I’d rather use something secure and responsibly coded like OpenBSD. Except that I can't.

Why for the life of this platform are we not on the only future direction for the platform? And I mean that literally. Neither AMD nor Intel sells 32-bit chips anymore. If OpenBSD remains stuck at 32 bits, people will stop using and developing for it.

Who makes the decision to keep OpenBSD off of 64-bit Intel? And why the hell are they doing so?

-jash

A Brief History of the Berkeley Software Distributions

It seems that there's some confusion around the Berkeley Software Distributions and where they came from. It's a bit difficult to keep track amidst all of the infighting and forking caused by various personal, political, and legal issues. I've covered the BSD family quite a bit, but never its history. I'll do so now so that we can all get on the same page.

The history of the Berkeley Software Distributions all starts with 386BSD…

Why I Gave Up on OpenBSD

Having been an OpenBSD user since OpenBSD 2.7 was released in 2006, I—until recently—administrated several OpenBSD deployments and wrote utilities for the operating system.

Excited about the imminent release of OpenBSD 5.1, I thought to ask OpenBSD owner Theo de Raadt some questions about upgrading from OpenBSD 4.9. I knew Theo was infamous for his short temper, so I made sure to pose my questions intelligently. I sent the email and went to bed.

Let me tell you, I was not prepared for Theo's response.

Why I Uninstalled OpenBSD

I uninstalled OpenBSD the other day after using it since OpenBSD 2.7 came out eleven years ago. I had grown used to it and contributed too, following the OpenBSD mailing lists and even submitting code a couple of times. But when I began thinking seriously about security, things began to change.

Why I Almost Gave OpenBSD $100,000—But Didn't

It is never a happy occasion to realize that a not-for-profit group, no matter how destitute or successful, is undeserving of charitable donations. And just last week I had such an unhappy realization. I wanted to donate a sizable sum of money to the OpenBSD Foundation for development of the OpeBSD operating system and other related projects.

My great-uncle, an old Unix graybeard from the Seventies, devoted his retirement and considerable savings to teaching inner-city youth about computers and programming. He recently passed away and left instructions in his will that I donate money, in the amount of US $100,000, to “the most meritorious Free, Unix-like operating system” as according to my own research into the matter.

Why I Left OpenBSD

I was a long-time OpenBSD user since the OpenBSD 2.7 days, and cut my teeth on Unix development there. I was attracted by its focus on security and conscientious coding practices. I was happy through the early 2.x days, but the more I got involved in developing for OpenBSD the more I was dissuaded from doing so.

Part of the issue was this focus on security. After I began to use OpenBSD at home and at work in earnest, I realized that it was limited in hardware support compared to other operating systems. I purchased a new workstation and portable within a year of each other, and both times came to some unhappy realizations about OpenBSD support.

I began to seriously look at Linux and FreeBSD at this point, knowing hardware support was much more robust. (I had also looked at NetBSD, but even though it booted on nearly everything, driver support was anemic.) I started to dual-boot FreeBSD on my workstation, and spent more and more time there. But it wasn't only hardware support that pushed me away from OpenBSD.

Demonology '08

In the new year the Berkeley Software Distribution family of Unix-like operating systems is growing at a phenomenal rate and excitement over the possibilities for this operating system family is in the air. After unprecedented development and adoption as well as major shifts in the marketplace, it's time to take a look at what's new with this demonic family of operating systems. Don't fear, the word demon means Unix goodness at just the right price.

Bloggix: A Unix for Web Logs

For my senior project, I chose to design my own Unix distribution tailor-built for running web logs like Slash and Scoop. I had my choices of operating systems to build on, and after several false starts and unforeseen roadblocks, I'm well into this project. I felt it may benefit future computer science majors to document my progress so far, so here's my story.

The State of the Demon Address

It's an exciting era in the Berkeley Software Distribution world; indeed, things started off with a litigious bang over a decade ago, but now BSD solutions are more varied than ever before and offer the user heretofore unprecedented choice and power. So many are the options today that it's time for a roll call from the various distributions. Each of the four major BSD projects are pushing forward with development and experiencing growth, diversifying the Open Source playing field's offerings Let's take a look at what each project is up to these days.

Linux vs. OpenBSD

I received the email first thing in the morning from the IT department. Our network would be undergoing a major overhaul to correct the ad hoc growth it had experienced in the last year, and starting next week Internet access would be sporadic. There would also be a new firewall and security measures, replacing the old OpenBSD system I'd managed to get installed last Spring. Happy for the heads-up, I went to work right away to make sure Linux had no place on our network. This was not the first time that I had faced this threat.