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Re: impressions of a new user
Date: Fri Aug 15 2003 - 01:50:48 EDT
On Fri, 15 Aug 2003 10:56:38 -0500 (CDT), "Charles J. Fisher" <cfisher@rhadmin.org> wrote:
> I switched to OpenBSD from RedHat a few months ago, shortly after
> RedHat started messing with up2date.
>
> While I'd never go back at this point, someone recently asked me what
> I thought about OpenBSD. I thought that it might be productive to
> share my impressions.
Just one question: why are you reposting comments from Slashdot onto OpenBSD mailing lists, ESPECIALLY those for developers? Those of us who want to read Slashdot read Slashdot, those of us who don't want to don't need them clogging up lists for the developers.
[snip]
> I hate rc.conf. RedHat's "service httpd restart" is much easier than
> digging the options up out of the /etc/rc* files.
>
> In fact, I really miss the SysV init scripts. OpenBSD should have a
> switch you can throw that forces init to follow a SysV-style behavior.
> This would let the userbase decide how OpenBSD develops.
I LIKE rc files; much better than that mess of rc.d. If you want a switch for SysV init, code it yourself. The userbase doesn't decide how OpenBSD develops; the *developers* do (is a hint of clue dawning here?)
> bzip2 is not part of the base distribution. RedHat converted to bzip2
> some time ago, while OpenBSD still relies on gzip. This a) wastes
> download bandwidth, and b) wastes space on the OpenBSD cds. I probably
> shouldn't complain, but releases for some architectures aren't on the
> cds at all(alpha), and some have incomplete package collections
> (sparc). This is a stupid waste, forced by tradition alone. OpenBSD 4,
> when it comes out, should use the best compression available, no
> compromises.
It's 3.4, and who are you to say "should"?
Red Hat also includes, in their "workstation" distribution, a "graphical utility to change the root password". I think you'll soon discover that what Red Hat does carries little weight around here. I have three Sparcstation 2's sitting behind me, and I regularly use OpenBSD on systems at 33 MHz or so (and these are fast by some arch standards.) We don't need the bzip2 overhead.
> A DVD distribution might be nice.
Ah, great. Make the project a donation big enough to cover the expenses and magically predict how many people will order it, and I'm sure it'll happen if Theo doesn't decide to spend the money on making the system better instead.
> Mozilla doesn't work. Gimp is available, but there is no complete
> gnome port. I hate konq.
Poor baby. Mozilla DOES work in -current. We have a great deal of gnome, too. If you don't like it, fix it.
> (pd)ksh is not configured very well; everything is configured for
> (t)csh. There was no /etc/profile (if I remember correctly). It is sad
> to see OpenBSD and Apple using such a discredited shell. csh has
> profound problems as a scripting shell, and people should use the same
> shell for scripting that they use interactively.
Speak for yourself on csh; personally, I like csh. If you don't, change your shell. Is it really that hard to do, even without a graphical shell changing utility?
> sendmail.cf is not sufficiently flexible. Under RH6.2, I was able to
> use a mailertable entry of the form "pickydomain.net
> SMTP:[mail.myisp.com]" when a remote MTA insisted that I relay through
> my ISP. While I am no sendmail expert, this doesn't seem to be
> (easily) possible under the OpenBSD configuration. I copied RedHat's
> sendmail.cf to restore this functionality.
You do NOT EDIT SENDMAIL.CF. It's one of those things you just don't do, unless you're competent to deal with the consequences. If you're complaining about "this is broken", you are NOT competent.
> Some of my pcmcia network configuration was pure hell.
Give details. I've never had a problem with pcmcia network config, and I restore old laptops.
> pkg_add should do more with PKG_PATH. Part of the installation should
> find the mirror with the best ping time/hop count/bandwidth, and
> install this mirror in /etc/PKG_PATH as the default source for all
> future installs. root should be able to trigger such a scan at any
> time.
Great, hack it up and make it an unofficial patch. If people like it, they'll use it.
Spartan? Personally, I love it. Best installer I ever used. Curses tend to invoke curses, at least with me; I almost threw up when I used the Free|Net installers after Open's. And it's only confusing if you aren't capable of reading.
> The documentation for the default NAT configuration (SOHO) ends up
> denying all connectivity to the OpenBSD router (RedHat does this
> also). When I want to turn on the POP server for a few minutes, I
> don't want to hassle with pf.
Uh... PF doesn't come enabled by default. If you're enabling it blindly and ignoring config, I pity you.
> What is the sense in bundling a POP server in the base operating
> system, but not bundling an IMAP server?
The POP server is small, light, and reasonably secure. It provides for remote mail access, as opposed to an "everything and the kitchen sink" approach. If you want IMAP, is it really that hard to use ports?
In one line: If you don't like it, change it locally or use Red Hat again.
-Sunny Raspet Received on Fri Aug 15 18:16:39 2003
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Wed Aug 23 2006 - 13:29:30 EDT
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