Frequently asked questions (with answers) on #openbsd IRC channel
Please read the official OpenBSD FAQ
I am writing this to answer questions asked too many times.
If some answers get good enough, maybe we could try to merge it in the OpenBSD
FAQ if the topic isn’t covered.
If the topic is covered, then a link to the official FAQ should be used.
If you want to participate, you can fetch the page using gopher protocol and
send me a diff:
$ printf '/~solene/article-openbsd-faq.txt\r\n' | nc dataswamp.org 70 > faq.md
OpenBSD features / not features
Here is a list for newcomers to tell what is and what is not OpenBSD
See OpenBSD Innovations
Packet Filter : super awesome firewall
Sane defaults : you install, it works, no tweak
Stability : upgrades go smooth and are easy
pledge and unveil : security features to reduce privileges of software, lots of ports are patched
W^X security
Microphone muted by default, unlockable by root only
Video devices owned by root by default, not usable by users until permission change
Has only FFS file system which is slow and has no “feature”
No wine for windows compatibility
No linux compatibility
No bluetooth support
No usb3 full speed performance
No VM guest additions
Only in-house VMM for being a VM host, only supports OpenBSD and some Linux
Poor fuse support (it crashes quite often)
No nvidia support (nvidia’s fault)
No container / docker / jails
Does OpenBSD has a Code Of Conduct?
No and there is no known plan of having one.
This is a topic upsetting OpenBSD people, just don’t ask about it and send
patches.
What is the OpenBSD release process?
OpenBSD FAQ official information
The last two releases are called “-release” and are officially supported
(patches for security issues are provided).
-stable version is the latest release with the base system patches applied,
the -stable ports tree has some patches backported from -current, mainly to fix
security issues. Official packages for -stable are built and are picked up
automatically by pkg_add(1).
What is -current?
It’s the development version with latest packages and latest code.
You shouldn’t use it only to get latest package versions.
How do I install -current ?
OpenBSD FAQ about current
- download the latest snapshot install .iso or .fs file from your
favorite mirror under /snapshots/ directory
- boot from it
How do I upgrade to -current
OpenBSD FAQ about current
You can use the script sysupgrade -s, note that the flag is only useful if
you are not running -current right now but harmless otherwise.