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OpenBSD Project Releases OpenNTPd

44BSD writes "The folks at OpenBSD have announced OpenNTPd, a BSD-licensed implementation of the NTP protocol. As with OpenSSH, there are two teams responsible for the code, which, like OpenSSH, is available in pure OpenBSD and portable versions." TLA FYI: This Wikipedia entry offers a quick overview of the Network Time Protocol. Read on below for some more on OpenNTPd.

"As explained at the project home page:

One team does strictly OpenBSD-based development, aiming to produce code that is as clean, simple, and secure as possible. We believe that simplicity without the portability "goop" allows for better code quality control and easier review. The other team then takes the clean version and makes it portable, by adding the portability "goop" so that it will run on many operating systems.
I have been using the OpenBSD variant of this daemon as it exists in the OpenBSD 3.5-current branch of the OS, and it has worked flawlessly with absolutely zero configurational effort. The supplied config file is sufficient to have the daemon synch against a randomly chosen stratum 2 server (pool.ntp.org, served up via round-robin A records). Aside from its simplicity, this daemon offers the ability to be selectively bound to a machine's network interfaces, rather than having to bind to all, as is the case with xntpd. The features provided by this implementation are probably sufficient for the majority of NTP users, and when the promised support for GPS and radio clocks is added, still more will be able to choose OpenNTPd. This additional diversity is welcome, indeed."

2 of 63 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Manually picking through files and putting them on a CD is anal, and time consuming. I don't know about you, but I try to up my productivity, not decrease it by doing things an obtuse way because the developer of a project wants to gourge users for money. Going through such takes away from my time dealing with other tasks, but I guess when you don't really have anything to do such tasks are easy. Everyone isn't a 15 year old kid that can waste valuable time on superfluous activities.

    Moreover, the average user doesn't want, and/or have the ability to do such tasks, and shouldn't be expected to. Congrats on being an ignorant elitist.

  2. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    I think it's pretty funny that OpenBSD is getting so anal about licensing, yet they won't let people make ISOs. Bloody hypocritical. Then again, everyone knows NetBSD and FreeBSD are far better choices, if you want an OS that doesn't get all of it's popularity from a fallacy of "security".