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OpenBSD 5.2 Released

Posted by samzenpus on from the check-it-out dept.

An anonymous reader writes "OpenBSD 5.2 has been released and is available for download. One of the most significant changes in this release is the replacement of the user-level uthreads by kernel-level rthreads, allowing multithreaded programs to utilize multiple CPUs/cores."

3 of 141 comments (clear)

  1. Good News! by Noryungi · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yeah, Netcraft confirms it is dying, yadda, yadda, yadda, etc... Linus said they were masturbating monkeys, the 1990s called, and they want their rthreads back, etc... etc...

    Seriously, folks, if you haven't tried OpenBSD before, give it a spin, you might like it. Sure, it ain't no penguin, but that nice pointy fish is stable, solid, secure and quite a nice little beast to work with. I have had nothing but good experiences with that OS.

    Just my US$ 0.02.

    --
    The right to offend is far more important than the right not to be offended. (Rowan Atkinson)
    1. Re:Good News! by evilviper · · Score: 5, Informative

      Think about all the complexity of GRUB. Think about all the issues that the initrd causes. Think about the loading and unloading of kernel modules, whether for different hardware support or just kernel features (eg. bonding NICs), and issues that arise from switching between kernel versions or whatnot. Think about the often cryptic syntax of modules.conf. Think about the complexity of SysV and looking through those hundreds of little scripts to find the problem you're looking for. Think of chkconfig and "services".

      Now imagine it all going away.

      That's right... OpenBSD doesn't use or need any of it. The whole system is super-simple and extremely clean. For those who've used FreeBSD and been impressed with how much nicer and simpler it is than Linux, you should know FreeBSD is only half-way to being as simple as OpenBSD.

      I used-to LOVE the simplicity of it. Back when removable hard drives were as close to mobile computing as most of us got, I'd have my OpenBSD system all setup, and I could just up and boot it from ANY SYSTEM, with no reconfiguration, and no problems. Windows users were absolutely astonished, and Linux users were aghast at the lack of boot-time kernel panic or other system hangs.

      It's absolutely the best way to start learning Unix... With init/startup scripts a child can understand, and configure, and a clean, straight-forward user-land, rather than one cluttered with 20 different shells like any Linux distro.

      And I've just started scratching the surface... Think of an OS where the developers have kept the same sound systems for decades, and have kept the same file system for decades, with just a few rare updates that kept it among the all-around best-performing. Think of an OS where the scheduler doesn't keep changing and getting more tweaks, but works the same from version to version for many years in-between. Think of an OS that you can just install and really count on it being as stable as a rock, and incredibly bug-free foundation. Imagine not having to keep up with the constant changes made to better suit some random person's idea of what minor feature is worth completely upending decades of good design, legacy and stability (eg: KMS, Wayland, etc.). Think of an OS that doesn't have to go through contortions and change after change to its design to suit the design constraints of the latest mainframe IBM is developing.

      Think of an OS that is simple, elegant, solid, and just plain works.

      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
  2. i miss openbsd by resfilter · · Score: 5, Informative

    i used to use it a lot

    it doesnt' have much going for it, in the scheme of modern unix-like operating systems.. it's a bit of an underdog. it doesn't have fancy high-performance schedulers, its io layer is slow.. it's missing drivers for lots of commodity hardware, some of them because of principles.. theo is an asshole sometimes, with his constant 'im always right and you're always an idiot' thing.. but..

    for one, the documentation is beautiful. whoever maintains the documentation should get a medal. there are few typos, everything has a man page, and every man page has EXAMPLES and is easy to understand. better than any other operating system out there. and that's a big plus: if you try any linux distribution and find an unfamilar file in /etc, you have a 50/50 shot of it being documented properly. with openbsd, it's garunteed

    because their entire mission is based on thorough auditing, they make sure their code is very well documented and easy to understand. that's a big bonus too. modifying and developing on openbsd, as a platform, is a very nice experience

    openssh is a very beautifully written piece of software. it's nice to use, and it's nice to read the source code. when is the last time it gave you any problems? openbsd is an entire operating system written with the same standards.

    give it a try if you haven't, it wont hurt you.. virtual machines don't cost anything..