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OpenBSD 4.4 Released

Posted by kdawson on from the fresh-daemons dept.

Linux blog writes "The new version of OpenBSD is available for download. There are lots of nifty new features to try out including OpenSSH 5.1 with chroot(2) support, Xenocara, Gnome 2.20.3, KDE 3.5.8, etc. Machines using the UltraSPARC IV/T1/T2 and Fujitsu SPARC64-V/VI/VII are now supported. It seems amazing to me that they keep delivering these new results on a six-month release cycle."

11 of 235 comments (clear)

  1. Congratulations by norbot · · Score: 5, Informative

    Congratulations to the OpenBSD team. BSD is far from dead!

    1. Re:Congratulations by Ant+P. · · Score: 5, Funny

      Indeed, BSD is not dead at all. In fact I took a look at their mailing list archives last week and saw more than half a dozen very active threads. Shame they were all flame wars.

    2. Re:Congratulations by david.given · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yeah. I'd really like to like OpenBSD. Technically, it's superb. It's smooth, polished, well documented --- it's got a level of consistency that most Linux distros can only hope to dream of. The kernel is well designed and fast, with excellent hardware support. System setup is consistent and well-thought out. Above all, it doesn't confuse easy-to-use with easy-to-learn --- everything is as simple as possible without oversimplifying, which makes it a joy to admin.

      But then, every time I try to use it, I run up against the OpenBSD developers, who are an arrogant bunch of elitist assholes. In a couple of years, on and off, I think I've seen Theo make a civil reply to someone *once*. Maybe twice. No, I'm not kidding. When you see someone ask what looks to my untutored eye a reasonable question about VMs, and the head developer replies publicly with the words 'You are full of shit' and nothing else (apart from a complete copy of the original message, no snipping), there is something very wrong. Most of the other devs are nearly as bad, and of course there are hordes of groupies who assume that if the people in charge are okay with personal abuse, then it's alright for them, too.

      Despite this, the actual operating system is definitely worth checking out if you're interested in what a well-designed Unix actually looks like. Linux can learn a lot from it.

    3. Re:Congratulations by tedu_again · · Score: 5, Funny

      I certainly don't mean it personally, so that's good.

  2. Re:Mebbe I should try it some time by QuickFox · · Score: 5, Interesting

    although they lack a good pre-built distro like Ubuntu.

    They do have a good pre-built distro. It's called PC-BSD. It's very good in my experience, very nice. And it's a breeze to install, just like Ubuntu.

    I like Ubuntu even better. But PC-BSD is very fine, really, it deserves recognition. It's well worth trying.

    --
    Terrorists can't threaten a country's freedom and democracy. Only lawmakers and voters can do that.
  3. A site geared towards Linux user, to learn OpenBSD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    This site is geared towards Linux users that want to learn OpenBSD: http://www.openbsd101.com/

  4. Silent Money Maker by imus · · Score: 5, Interesting

    OpenBSD puts a lot of money in consultant's pockets. It's hands down the most secure OS on the market. Got a client that needs a secure redundant firewall but can't afford big, over-priced Cisco gear? OpenBSD to the resuce. OpenBGP, CARP, etc. You can do things with OpenBSD and 15K worth of hardware that would cost six or seven times as much money with dedicated networking hardware. And, you can do it better. So, if you need some easy extra cash get into OpenBSD and start making a killing in the firewall business in your hometown. When you get a reputation for solid, secure systems (they'll wonder how you do it :)) donate some cash to the OpenBSD Foundation and buy some CDs.

  5. Re:Mebbe I should try it some time by menkhaura · · Score: 5, Informative

    Let me just point out that PC-BSD's kernel is the very same FreeBSD, nothing related to OpenBSD; let me also just point out that the standard FreeBSD distribution combines the advantages of Gentoo's (customizing the building of packages to your needs or desires) and of Debian (superb dependency tracking, very fast on searches, always up-to-date (if you consider Debian Unstable)).

    --
    Stupidity is an equal opportunity striker.
    Fellow slashdotter Bill Dog
  6. Re:Mebbe I should try it some time by ArbitraryConstant · · Score: 5, Informative

    > What does Linux take from BSD? All those vendor supplied drivers? The userland? The vast array of high quality filesystems?

    The overwhelmingly dominant SSH implementation?

    --
    I rarely criticize things I don't care about.
  7. Re:KDE version by OmegaBlac · · Score: 5, Informative

    They audit every line of code they ship, including the external stuff they don't write.

    I keep seeing this, but it is not entirely correct. According to their own FAQ they do not audit ports or packages to the same degree as the base system. One must assume that the "external stuff" has not been through an audit at all when installing a port/package.
    http://www.openbsd.org/faq/faq15.html#Intro

  8. Re:Package security? by incripshin · · Score: 5, Informative

    Anonymous cvs access is done over ssh, and the public keys are listed on the OpenBSD website. The ports tree includes checksums, and these are all verified automatically. So if you check the ssh key of the cvs server, all your ports are safe.

    As for pre-built packages from FTP, I don't think there's anything in place for verification.