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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."
What was the problem with the old NTPd? I thought it was open source.
I'm glad OpenBSD people are moving on with their lives, after their loved one passed away.
We now have the original ntpd, chrony, and openntpd. I've been using chronyd for a while now, and it's pretty easy to set up. I like how the server can be controlled or queried by a client, chronyc, from the command line without restarting it. I also like being able to limit how often it queries the timeserver, to make sure I don't over-do it. AFAIK, there's nothing bad about chrony. (It's GPL, though, not BSD. The more the merrier.)
:)
http://chrony.sunsite.dk/
Oh, and my ISP has its own stratum 2 server, z3.eastlink.ca.
#define X(x,y) x##y
Peter Cordes ; e-mail: X(peter@cordes ,
One more crippling bombshell hit the already beleaguered *BSD community when IDC confirmed that *BSD market share has dropped yet again, now down to less than a fraction of 1 percent of all servers. Coming on the heels of a recent Netcraft survey which plainly states that *BSD has lost more market share, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. *BSD is collapsing in complete disarray, as fittingly exemplified by failing dead last in the recent Sys Admin comprehensive networking test.
You don't need to be a Kreskin to predict *BSD's future. The hand writing is on the wall: *BSD faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for *BSD because *BSD is dying. Things are looking very bad for *BSD. As many of us are already aware, *BSD continues to lose market share. Red ink flows like a river of blood.
FreeBSD is the most endangered of them all, having lost 93% of its core developers. The sudden and unpleasant departures of long time FreeBSD developers Jordan Hubbard and Mike Smith only serve to underscore the point more clearly. There can no longer be any doubt: FreeBSD is dying.
Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.
OpenBSD leader Theo states that there are 7000 users of OpenBSD. How many users of NetBSD are there? Let's see. The number of OpenBSD versus NetBSD posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7000/5 = 1400 NetBSD users. BSD/OS posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of NetBSD posts. Therefore there are about 700 users of BSD/OS. A recent article put FreeBSD at about 80 percent of the *BSD market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 FreeBSD users. This is consistent with the number of FreeBSD Usenet posts.
Due to the troubles of Walnut Creek, abysmal sales and so on, FreeBSD went out of business and was taken over by BSDI who sell another troubled OS. Now BSDI is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.
All major surveys show that *BSD has steadily declined in market share. *BSD is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If *BSD is to survive at all it will be among OS dilettante dabblers. *BSD continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save *BSD at this point in time. For all practical purposes, *BSD is dead.
Fact: *BSD is dying
It's not anymore. FreeBSD's about bylaws and committees and reports and milestones, telling others what to do and doing what you're told. It's about who can rant the longest or shout the loudest or mislead the most people into a bloc in order to legitimize doing what they think is best. Individuals notwithstanding, the project as a whole has lost track of where it's going, and has instead become obsessed with process and mechanics.
I don't want to feel like I should be "doing something" about a project that has lost interest in having something done for it. I don't have the energy to fight what has clearly become a losing battle; I have a life to live and a job to keep, and I won't achieve any of the goals I personally consider worthwhile if I remain obligated to care for the project. Goodbye FreeBSD. You wore out your welcome. Hello OpenBSD.
Rest in piece, BSD! Hello, Windows XP!
with xntpd:
server 127.0.0.1, port 123
stratum 4, precision -29, leap 00
refid 10.10.10.3 delay 0.00021, dispersion 0.00000 offset 0.000060
rootdelay 0.06087, rootdispersion 0.00815, synch dist 0.03857
reference time: c4a447e8.ad0b0118 Sun, Jul 18 2004 10:50:48.675
originate timestamp: c4a447f6.fc5989a7 Sun, Jul 18 2004 10:51:02.985
transmit timestamp: c4a447f6.fc4b6794 Sun, Jul 18 2004 10:51:02.985
With openntpd:
server 127.0.0.1, port 123
stratum 2, precision 0, leap 00
refid 0.0.0.0 delay 0.00024, dispersion 0.00000 offset 0.000072
rootdelay 0.00000, rootdispersion 0.00000, synch dist 0.00000
reference time: c4a49a92.575967ff Sun, Jul 18 2004 16:43:30.341
originate timestamp: c4a49c58.7acd9fff Sun, Jul 18 2004 16:51:04.479
transmit timestamp: c4a49c58.7ac07fae Sun, Jul 18 2004 16:51:04.479
It doesn't show me the refid and it doesn't the correct stratum. Any idea why not?
bash$
*BSD is like the problem child dying of some rare incurable disease.
Can someone explain me how the separate OpenBSD and portable trees are maintaned. Are they basically two separate source trees that get updated simultaneously with the new features?
> This additional diversity is welcome, indeed.
;)
I, for one, welcome our new timeserving overlords.
Hey, at least it's not goatse.cx, hot grits, beowulf clusters or Natalie Portman