This announcement thread really isn’t the place to discuss or debate the data.
The OP stated they couldn’t find any data to compare the relative security of Linux vs. OpenBSD.
CVEs are independently, objectively verifiable and provable data. This is the dictionary definition of a verified “fact”. It’s not anyone’s opinion.
You don’t have to like it or me.
Is the code you ran on your OpenBSD available (e.g. on GitHub) for others to test?
Curious what async issue you faced, did you report it? Or ask for help addressing?
Yeah, time is finite and fleeting and the older I get the faster it seems to go!
As a teen I had infinite time to compile Linux and debug stuff. Now I just want to spend time with family/outdoors and not be stuck in a windowless room negotiating with a black box. ;-P
Ah, losing the 2.4ghz USB dongle ... Sucks. Feel you. :-(
Wireless Earbuds/Headphones are a legit use case.
(Still use bluetooth with iPhone every day, sadly, still addicted to the convenience of AirPods ...)
But I've got decent wired headphones for my OpenBSD setup. bonus: never have to charge them. ;-)
Even more curious now: what do you use the Nintendo Switch controller for on your computer? Have you got it hooked up to play games on your PC?
Or do you use it for robotics or other I/O?
You are correct; OpenBSD is secure by default. And it's not subjective at all.
The homepage of https://www.openbsd.org proudly states "Only two remote holes in the default install, in a heck of a long time!" if they didn't have the evidence to support the statement, the internet would have forced them to remove it by now. ;-)
Remote (exploitable) holes are the ones we all care about.
It's not even close! It's nearly two orders of magnitude higher for Linux.
This isn't anecdotal or “vague opinion” CVEs are facts.
You can ask the follow-up question: Why is that?
And there are many reasons.
It could just be that Linux having more users/eyes means more bugs are surfaced ...
But you need to dig deeper to understand why OpenBSD is so much more secure,
the core team of OpenBSD proactively reviews the security of other OSes and when they learn something, they rapidly implement the feature/fix in OpenBSD.
Again, read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenBSD_security_features
Many of the proactive security features OpenBSD has are not implemented by other OSes. And in the case of kernel-level Crypto, they won't ever be because US export restrictions.
100%. I put off learning/using OpenBSD for a decade until a breach at a client (we weren’t responsible for DevOps/SysAdmin) made me pick it up because I don’t have time to be a full-time Linux Sysadmin anymore. Just want the servers to run without having to think about them. Wish I’d done it sooner.
Lost at lot of time on Linux, Docker, K8s, etc. that I could have skipped completely with OpenBSD.
Our servers are an order of magnitude simpler now, just single services per VM and I sleep better. ;-)
FreeBSD has the same roots as OpenBSD but the former has a “compatibility” focus whereas the latter has the security focus.
Having a background in security, the choice was obvious for me. But each person/org should decide based on their needs.
Haven’t had any issues running it on all major hardware (Dell, HP, Lenovo, Apple, etc) the UI isn’t as pretty as macOS on Desktop, but it runs Firefox & Chrome, etc. so you can do everything you need.
If you have an older Lenovo or Mac lying around collecting dust, dive in!
How long did what take? Learning the essentials of OpenBSD, budget 4-6hours. Switching over servers from Ubuntu, an hour for the first one then 10mins each after that. You can copy config with your favourite tools; most have ports for OpenBSD already.
If you want to learn more in-depth, read: Michael W. Lucas
Absolute OpenBSD, 2nd Edition: Unix for the Practical Paranoid. Highly recommend it as teaches many fundamentals most software engineers skip.
We use OpenBSD for our VPSes on Hetzner, bare metal (for security focussed clients) and older (but still good) hardware in our Home Lab. OpenBSD is excellent on older (no longer supported by Cupertino) Apple hardware. We have an Intel Mac Mini Cluster with near-perfect uptime. If you need to run any kind of server (Web, Mail, DNS, NFS, Database) where you need stability & security, look no further.
Some learning curve, but totally worth it.
With all the security issues constantly being uncovered in other Operating Systems - which will only accelerate with Ai - it’s time everyone considers OpenBSD. Their decades-long security-focus is second to none. We have fully converted from Ubuntu/Debian to OpenBSD. No looking back.
OpenBSD for the layer where you need the highest security. We use it for hosting our Postgres clusters. You could easily use it for your VPS. There is a learning curve. But if you’re already comfortable with Linux you’ll pick it up in a few hours.
Brave is my default browser for non-sensitive tasks; e.g. most web browsing, GitHub, news, etc.
The built-in ad-blocker & tracker blocker alone is worth it.
Use chrome for testing.
Stock Firefox for anything sensitive.