OpenBSD 5.4 Released

An anonymous reader writes "The release of OpenBSD 5.4 has been announced. New and notable advancements include new or extended platforms like octeon and beagle, moving VAX to ELF format, improved hardware support including Kernel Mode Setting (KMS), overhauled inteldrm(4), experimental support for fuse(4), reworked checksum handling for network protocols, OpenSMTPD 5.3.3, OpenSSH 6.3, over 7,800 ports, and many other improvements and additions."

Re:But ...

[billcarson]

Why, yes, yes it can. There is linux binary emulation available.

OpenBSD Rocks.

[grub]

Rather than slagging OpenBSD, set up a small VM and try it there for a while. It's a fantastic OS, I use it on my gateway/firewall/VPN, other edge-facing devices and a llaptop.

It's a bit minimal but what you get works.

Re:OpenBSD Rocks.

[jawtheshark]

Look into the syntax of pf, then look into the syntax of iptables. Then look back again. If I can, I damn well avoid having Linux firewalls, and I'm a Linux system administrator.

Re:OpenBSD Rocks.

[gagol]

OpenBSD focus on code stability rather than features, uses encryption everywhere it benefits and consider documentation as critical. Overall, it is very stable and secure.

Re:OpenBSD Rocks.

[grub]

I'd suggest starting here as a beginning: 9 - Migrating to OpenBSD [openbsd.org]
One thing I find OpenBSD is head and shoulders above other *nix OSs at: the documentation. Virtually every service, binary, config, library, /etc/*, what-have-you has a thorough manpage included. The emphasis on security and "correctness" shows everywhere: pf is fantastic (iptables is a cancer by comparison), the built-in IPSec is great, it's OpenSSH's "home OS", etc.

Everything fits very well together (as is also the case with FreeBSD and NetBSD). All the OpenBSD users could post replies to your question but the only way to see for yourself is to try it out.

Enjoy!

Re:OpenBSD Rocks.

[cptnapalm]

I have this truly bizarre UltraSparc laptop. The only two operating systems which will support it are Solaris, obviously, and OpenBSD. Solaris was extremely sluggish whereas OpenBSD with Awesome is quite spry.

Linux on my servers, NO WAY.

[eshaw]

There's only one solution when it comes to my network and servers, that's OpenBSD. It's secure, stable and correct coding making it an easy choice. I run a VPN, Web and redundant Firewall servers and OpenBSD gives me a piece of mind, ensuring it's stability. Stability and security are paramount for my network. PF is the king of firewall rules and iptables is an absolute mess. It's simple folks. If you want a serious OS for internet facing infrastructure, why choose anything else. OpenBSD is the obvious answer!

Re:OpenBSD Rocks.

[Anonymous Coward]

You mean like ASLR, drive encryption, stack canaries, W^X? None of these were invented there but they were common and integrated into OpenBSD long before any Linux.