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OpenBSD Turns 10
Eh-Wire writes to tell us OpenBSD Journal is reporting that OpenBSD is officially ten-years-old today. After some confusion, it was decided that 10 years ago today marked the birth of OpenBSD when Theo de Raadt committed his makefile to CVS.
BSD is 10.
Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
Seriously, though, OpenBSD is simply amazing. Any reasonably experienced Unix user should be able to install it and know what every single running process on the default system does. There's nothing like logging into a multiuser system and seeing a "ps" listing maybe 15 lines long. Their devotion to doing things The Right Way is staggering -- who else bothered to randomize PIDs and TCP serial numbers and encrypt swap?
They treat every theoretical exploit as a practical matter, and the result is some of the most robust, elegant software to be found. I have my reasons for not running it on every system I admin, but that doesn't stop me from giving them my utmost respect. Kudos, Theo et al. Job well done.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
about his attitude or any of that. OpenBSD is a very good product, and it's leading-edge when it comes to security. They audit code, they take care of security issues, and they tackle even the so-called theoretical security issues. OpenBSD is the best example of how others should treat security. Happy Birthday OpenBSD!
SecureThe.Net - Practical Resources for Securing Systems
Yes thats right, I am forking the OpenBSD tree.
My first release will be MyBSD2010. Note the large quasi futuristic number on the name - clearly it is a better product. Sure the code may be the same, and I may have no intentions of patching or improving, but I DO intend to re-release it in several months as MyBSD2030.
Note the 20 increment in there - clearly BIG BIG things have happened.
With the release of MyBSD2050 I plan on addind a large graphic and a pleasing startup sound my daughter shall compose on the toy keyboard she has.
This will clearly be a superiour product!
And if I feel particularly good, I may start to release hundreds of service packs each release... some of which shall just randomly change about lines of source code. If enough people run this, one of them has to randomly produce a code improvement (Following the million monkey theory). That person shall be slightly better off for the microsecond before one of the many bad mutations crashes the system.
Whoops, just accidentally release MyBSD2010 SP1
And BAH to a simple CD you can buy that comes complete with a full set of installation instructions! No, my new and improved (signifying nothing) distrobution will come in a very large box - very brightly colored, with no instructions, but a large legal document (also signifying nothing) and a hefty price tag because that - more than anything - is what the market demands!
I only wish they will update the Only one remote hole in the default install, in more than 8 years! on their webpage.
They should go back to: No holes in the default install for X years.
1% APY, No fees, Online Bank https://captl1.co/2uIErYq Don't let your $$$ sit in a no-interest acct.
I agree to everything you've said. Except one topic: you should've left version numbers alone -- as you state yourself, version != capacity or quality, and their quality is truly stellar.
"Good news, everyone!"
There are frequently comments regarding Theo's frankness with other developers and users. Even if he doesn't use the most friendly tone, at least he tends to back up his controversy with expertise and code. Compare that to the KOffice developer who recently insulted a longtime KDE and KOffice user. I've never seen something that low from Theo.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
I don't think Theo really cares what you think, or whether or not you'll "purchase" OpenBSD. Chances are that, regardless of what you do, he will continue to provide excellent software, users will continue to use it, and they'll all have safer and more secure systems.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
I have been using OBDS for 5 years and it gets better every year. Congrats to Theo and his team. Great OS for just about anything that needs to be done right and secure. No complaints here, just wish my linux boxes would run as well as OBSD.
To Hell with the Queen of England!
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? NO! Its Captain Obvious. And he is on crack as usual.
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? NO! Its Captain Obvious. And he is on crack as usual.
This seems a little rough. I think his reply was quite fitting, considering that some guy who dislikes Theo, is not going to buy Theo's wares, like it's going to make some sort of difference. Don't you think sometimes the obvious needs to be stated to the people who don't see it? That's how I took CyricZ's reply.
What's obvious to you, might be news to someone else. So many people come into misc@ or slashdot and try to equate OpenBSD with a business model for example and then argue the same lines which have been argued countless times over the past 10 years, for which I have beared witness to about 6 years of. Those people can be bludgeoned to a black and blue death with the OBVIOUS-STICK, still not "get it" and then come out forever stating that, "Theo is rude and they'll never buy his CD's". Nobody gives a fuck. Least of all Theo.
Unfortunately, those people cannot accept the obvious because their egos get in the way. However, poor chaps and lasses which mean well, try to explain what has already been explained to people who don't want to accept the reality.
Theo and the other OpenBSD developers make a really nice OS, along with some other nice software like OpenSSH. The personality of the project lead should not matter at all when you consider the excellent results they get.
War crimes, torture, lies, illegal spying... Would someone give Bush a blowjob, already, so he can be impeached?
It is official; NetCraft has confirmed: OpenBSD 3.7 has been hacked by a rogue internet group less than 24 hours after release.
"We can't believe how easy this one was to crack. There are 3 exploits you can do over the internet right out of the box, and I think we're going to find more," said ZeroC00L, a leader of the X0r h@X0rs. The group claims responsibility for demonstrating exploits in the past 5 OpenBSD releases.
"I think the main reason that people think OpenBSD is 'secure' is because Theo [de Raadt, leader of the OpenBSD 'project'] says it is. The truth is about the opposite; we can't find a single exploit in the latest RedHat, but OpenBSD is OpenSwissCheese. All that crap legacy code from fucking Berkeley hippies, you know."
Theo de Raadt could not be reached for comment.
I've been using SuSe Linux for a few years but I've also taken an interest in OpenBSD for a while. Recently I decided to give it a go. The online documentation is very well thought out. To suppliment online documentation I opted for an excellent book which should help new and experienced *nix users alike in getting the best from OpenBSD for their requirements. Absolute OpenBSD by Michael W. Lucas ISBN 1-886411-99-9 http://www.nostarch.com/ http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-fo rm/103-8285097-8052630/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/188641199 9/qid%3D1129994895/026-1045610-3018009/
I like the way OpenBSD has been produced and the way in which it encourages good practice.
My hyperlinks aren't worth the paper they're printed on.
It really aggravates me when I see people trash Theo because of his less than posey-perfect replies on the misc@openbsd.org list. Last time I checked, the OpenBSD project is not about making inadequate people feel good about themselves, it's about producing high quality software under a BSD licence.
I've met the guy personally several times and each time I was struck by two things: he is extremely efficient, and he is extremely dedicated. He cares - not about your feelings, but about your contribution and his own. When Theo snaps at people in misc@, it is because they deserve it. He isn't unreasonable. He only expects people to put in as much effort as he would. I've never seen him blast someone who didn't deserve it.
Theo contributes thousands of hours of high quality work which he gives freely to anyone for the taking. He only requires credit for his work if you use it, and he doesn't even require you to contribute back to the project, although if you do contribute it better be up to his standards.
The people who I have seen blasted by Theo all fit one profile - they do not contribute anything positive to the project, and they never will. They whine about OpenBSD not having some feature they want; they continually post messages which obviously were not researched in the slightest, expecting hand-holding and ass-wiping whenever they need it; or they offer incorrect or inaccurate advice to people who don't know better. All these things take away from the project instead of giving back to it. This type of behaviour DILUTES all the effort that Theo has put in (and of course, the other developers too). Of course he doesn't appreciate it, no reasonable person would.
Imagine this. Theo is a car enthusiast. He and his friends spend thousands of hours restoring vintage cars. He likes to take people for free rides in his restored cars, because he's proud of the work he and his friends have done. Now, you go for a ride with him and whine the whole time that you don't like the way he has restored the car, or insinuate he is an idiot, or that the car sucks and you could do it better, even though you have nothing to back up your claim. Or you take a piss on the leather seats. Or you bring your own car up to his house with a tow truck and expect him to fix it for free while you take off and play a round of golf. Any reasonable person would not be surprised when he rips you a new one.
Is OpenBSD any different than the above scenario? No. The people Theo blasts on misc@ deserve what they get. And he is entitled to blast away - because he walks the talk and he produces results.
Hey!! Are you a KOffice developer by any chance?
I'm no OpenBSD wiz (just a dabbler) but I found it extremely positive and refreshing that they admit to having had a remote hole in the default install at some point during the last eight years. To me it signals a large and rare amount of honesty and integrity in contrast to the usual blurbs other operating systems use. And of course as long as X remains low it is impressive like few other things.
:)
It also sends a strong and extremely sensible signal that one should not take security for granted in any way - it's an attitude and an eternally iterative process.
Anyway I wouldn't mind having both a "X years with Y remote holes in default install" message as well as a "No holes in default install for X years". The messages aren't mutually exclusive. Still there must be some kind of timeout as well, no point talking about a remote hole if it's like a decade old unless they say something like "Only X remote holes in default install ever!" which would be cool
Back onto the main topic: happy 10th OpenBSD & team!
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openBSD may be X, but sometimes I wish that OS X was openBSD.
Nothing sucks like a Vax, nothing blows like a PowerMac G4