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OpenBSD 4.7 Preorders Are Up
badger.foo writes "The OpenBSD 4.7 pre-orders are up. That means the release is done, sent off to CD production, and snapshots will turn -current again. Order now and you more likely than not will have your CD set, T-shirt or other cool stuff before the official release date. You get the chance to support the most important free software project on the planet, and get your hands on some cool playables and wearables early. The release page is still being filled in, but the changelog has detailed information about the goodies in this release."
is this still about t-shirts?
Just because they created OpenSSH doesn't mean the OS is the most important open source project on the planet.
OpenBSD is also responsible for, among other things, OpenSSH, OpenBGPD, and OpenNTPD -- all three of which are widely adopted and used far, far beyond the sphere of influence of even OpenBSD itself. OpenSSH accounts for some 90% of all SSH deployments world-wide. Whether you know it or not, OpenBSD-related software enables quit a bit of the internet infrastructure.
To follow up on my own post, they have a draft upgrade guide up it looks like (they recommend that it not be used yet though):
http://www.openbsd.org/faq/upgrade47.html
Looks like they include a utility to make life easier when upgrading... looks similar to what Gentoo Linux does when config files are upgraded... new configs are diff'd, and can be interactively merged, etc:
"OpenBSD now includes the sysmerge(8) utility, which helps administrators update configuration files after upgrading their system. Sysmerge(8) compares the current files on your system with the files that would have been installed with a new install, and gives you the option of keeping the old file, installing the new file, or assisting you in the manual merging of the old and new files, using sdiff. For past upgrades, we've presented a list of files that are usually copied over "as-is", and a list of files which should be changed, and a patch file that applies those changes to what might be in those files on your system. You may opt to use sysmerge to make the changes, or you may wish to use the patch file first, and then follow up with a sysmerge session to clean up any loose ends."
So it looks like they're at least making an effort to make it less painful
Here's to the crazy ones
The funny thing (to me) is that the upgrade process looks a lot harder than it actually turns out to be. On our servers, it usually amounts to running the installer, running patch to update files in /etc, running a single command to upgrade all the installed 3rd-party software, and rebooting a last time to make sure it comes back up cleanly.
In practice, the things that OpenBSD doesn't automatically upgrade with the above steps are the kinds of things you wouldn't want a script to attempt, such as upgrading the firewall configuration to use new features. The process certainly isn't slick or pretty, but it does the job well and safely.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
Security through obscurity? What are you talking about? Name a better documented OS or distro.
New (and not so new) users are well-advised to keep the FAQs bookmarked, but the man pages shipped with the distribution are the most comprehensive I've ever seen. Terse, maybe, but complete, and the developers treat errors/omissions seriously.
Maybe you meant security due to small market share? Don't you think that every wannabe cracker out there wants to make a name for himself by rooting a properly configured OpenBSD box?
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS10-006.mspx
That's a month ago. Took about two minutes of searching - like I said, it was a month ago so I didn't have to look backwards very far.
Remote code execution on Server 2k3 (all versions), Windows 7, and Server 2k8. Of course, this presupposes that Windows has SMB (hint: yes)
Or do you not consider remote code execution a security issue?
Look. I don't despise Microsoft like most people around here - just a lukewarm pain-in-my-assness. But let's not go pretending that they don't have more holes than Swiss cheese. If you do, you're either too ignorant to comment, or being delibrately obtuse.
I have developed a truly marvelous proof of this comment, which this signature is too narrow to contain.