OpenBSD?

geek

geek

Hello.

Do any OpenBSD-related forums exist?

I'm planning to buy a new laptop, and I will probably install OpenBSD as its operating system, because its graphics card seems to be supported by DragonFlyBSD and OpenBSD, but weirdly not FreeBSD, the biggest and most popular BSD.

Do you have any experience or knowledge about whether OpenBSD is a suitable or usable OS for everyday computer activities, surfing, studying, programming, and occasional low-performance gaming or simple 3D game development?
 
The usual place for OpenBSD discussions is on DaemonForums.org and on mailing lists.

I use OpenBSD on one of my surf laptops and it works well.
 
I've setup nearly identical desktops in Open/Free/Net-BSD's and used them long term. I watch a few videos - astro/stellarium and graphics/inkscape are my most taxing graphics applications. FreeBSD seemed to be the fastest of the three while OpenBSD is adequate. FreeBSD is easier to maintain long term, while I backup and re-install OpenBSD, with M:tier security updates, with each new release.

Twice in the past year, the FreeBSD package updates have broken an application I needed to use. I have never had this happen in 5 years of OpenBSD stable. Unless security is paramount, FreeBSD would be my first choice for a server and a close second for a desktop. For my day-to-day needs, I use OpenBSD because, once set up, when I boot it I can count on getting my task done.

If your video driver is Nvidia based, FreeBSD is the only real choice. OpenBSD openly discourages the use of closed source NVidia drivers.
FreeBSD will likely support the video driver you mentioned in a few months. Laptop specific: FreeBSD does have an application to scan and connect to wireless access points if you roam frequently and wpa_supplicant can be setup for multiple wireless access points. OpenBSD has its own wireless security but can use wpa_supplicant with some work. Sound can take some effort in FreeBSD while it usually works out of the box in OpenBSD.

OpenBSD encourages binary packages but does have a ports system to make modifications if needed. OpenBSD has about 8,000 packages, with binaries, while FreeBSD has roughly twice as many. Still, OpenBSD had the applications I use. As far as NetBSD, it always take the longest to set up, has the oldest binary packages and some binaries (Libreoffice) would build but would just not run. I did not have the expertise to fix it. NetBSD security updates are time consuming to apply and seem to appear much later than OpenBSD/FreeBSD.

OpenBSD also seems more organized and structured - releases are every 6 months. FreeBSD releases are when ready.
 
Just as an anecdote, I recently fired up DragonflyBSD 4.2 on a Thinkpad X230. It is one blazing fast OS if you find OpenBSD isn't suitable for your needs. Both work very well on this particular model Thinkpad. OpenBSD has the advantage that it reliably suspends/resumes if you need it to.
 
I gave NetBSD 7.0 a try in Virtualbox yesterday and I was impressed. NetBSD 7.0 is a blazing fast BSD with a sensible installer and excellent documentation. After OpenBSD it is my second choice for a stable BSD.
 
gofer_touch said:
Just as an anecdote, I recently fired up DragonflyBSD 4.2 on a Thinkpad X230. It is one blazing fast OS if you find OpenBSD isn't suitable for your needs. Both work very well on this particular model Thinkpad. OpenBSD has the advantage that it reliably suspends/resumes if you need it to.
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Not quite the same model, but suspend and resume is reliable on the X220 on FreeBSD as well. One of the few things I noticed OpenBSD do faster though, was suspend and resume. It's pretty much instantaneous. With FreeBSD there is a delay of a few seconds before it's asleep.
 
geek said:
Of course it is, but I mean the graphics acceleration.
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If not both, then probably the x86-64 build, since 32-bit x86 operating systems are virtually obsolete now. x86 is just the generic term for the "IBM PC-compatible" CPU architecture that's been the standard for thirty-odd years, and a 64-bit x86 CPU can run 32-bit binaries anyway.

NetBSD's focus is on portability, so it's available for a ton of different machine architectures--if it's got a microprocessor in it, someone at the NetBSD project has probably contemplated making a NetBSD build for it. (Finally, you can put that old Sega Dreamcast in your basement to good use. :p) x86 is just the common desktop/laptop architecture, so it makes sense that's where the KMS work would go first.
 
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