OpenBSD
Free, security-focused Unix-like operating system descended from BSD, with the pf packet filter
HN commenters like it for home routers and firewalls built on pf,1234 for stable daily use on older laptops,5678 and for clear man pages and low-maintenance servers.9101112 The most common caveat is that some Linux-only tools and hardware are harder or impossible to use than on Linux.1314
Why people recommend it
Routers and firewalls · 3
Commenters run it on home routers and firewalls and find pf and the base-install configuration simple.
“I use OpenBSD as my router and firewall at home. I find the configuration of OpenBSD for this a lot more simple”
“The setup on openbsd was very straightforward.”
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“OpenBSD is great for a router.”
Daily driver · 3
Many use it as a daily laptop or desktop OS, including on hardware a decade or more old.
“I've used OpenBSD as a laptop daily driver for nearly 20 years.”
“I run openbsd on it and... well it's perfect.”
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“I'm using it as a daily driver since Debian adopted systemd and it works great.”
Security and simplicity · 3
Commenters value its security focus, small footprint and opt-in, no-nonsense design.
“I like OpenBSD when I want a small, highly-secure, rock-solid reliable system where everything beyond basic multi-user is opt-in, rather than opt-out.”
“Loved the security/simplicity, but made it more difficult or impossible for certain Linux only tools.”
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Stability · 3
It is described as extremely reliable and consistent across upgrades.
“I've used OpenBSD as a laptop daily driver for nearly 20 years.”
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“I love OpenBSD for similar reasons, except, I still run it as my primary desktop”
Documentation · 3
The man pages and official docs are repeatedly called excellent.
“I highly recommend playing with it.”
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“I use stock OpenBSD with nothing else for a web server. Very easy to maintain and configure, very good manuals and very good vulnerability track record.”
Easy server upkeep · 3
Several find it easier to maintain than Linux servers for personal sites and services.
“so much easier to maintain than a linux server for my personal sites”
“I recently switched from Debian based servers to OpenBSD and I have never been happier.”
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“I use stock OpenBSD with nothing else for a web server. Very easy to maintain and configure, very good manuals and very good vulnerability track record.”
Caveats and dissent
Linux compatibility · 2
Some Linux-only tools and hardware are harder or impossible to use, and the install process is called convoluted.
“Loved the security/simplicity, but made it more difficult or impossible for certain Linux only tools.”
“Still, they have a convulated install process, dubious hardware and software compatibility that is better solved in the Linux world today.”
SMP performance · 1
The Giant Lock model can make multi-core workloads interfere with things like USB audio.
“Running OpenBSD as a daily driver but with no DE.”
No LTS · 1
Six-month upgrades without a long-term support release make it less appealing for corporate production.
“I use OpenBSD as a workstation and it works great”
Filesystem options · 1
One commenter finds its filesystem choices weak for NVMe and full-disk encryption.
“I would love to use openbsd. I really wanna give it a try but the filesystem choices seem kinda meh.”
Bugs · 1
A router user notes that releases still ship with bugs.
“I use OpenBSD for routers and love it”
Desktop practicality · 1
A long-time fan says it is no longer very practical as a daily driver.
“Long time OpenBSD fan. Used it as my daily driver for years”
Often compared with
2 moved from FreeBSD to OpenBSD
1 moved from OpenBSD to FreeBSDmacOS7 comments mention both
2 moved from OpenBSD to macOS
2 moved from Debian to OpenBSD
1 moved from OpenBSD to Ubuntu
1 moved from Alpine Linux to OpenBSD
1 moved from OPNsense to OpenBSD
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- OpenBSD 8.0 7 mentions
- NetBSD 11.0 Released 7 mentions
- OpenBSD 7.9 Released 4 mentions
- Research carried out using NetBSD 2 mentions
- Moving from OpenBSD to FreeBSD for firewalls 2 mentions
- Digital minimalism 1 mention
Data: openbsd.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 43
“my daily driver is an old laptop I put OpenBSD on”
“OpenBSD 8.0 ships with getexecpath(3) [0], which I just happily added to Pie Lang”
“> There is no alternative to Debian for me.”
“It is a heck of a system. I love it too.”
“It would be cool if we could run this thing on Apple Silicon macs.”
“Extremely reliable, and pf is top tier.”
“I highly recommend playing with it.”
“I've used OpenBSD as a laptop daily driver for nearly 20 years.”
“I run openbsd on it and... well it's perfect.”
“Loved the security/simplicity, but made it more difficult or impossible for certain Linux only tools.”
I've been forced to use Ubuntu 22.04 and 24.04 at my job for the past 4 years, and the longer I use it, the more it makes me wish I was using OpenBSD w/ xfce.
“After shifting from FreeBSD to OpenBSD as my daily driver”
“I run Haiku, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Ubuntu, and Pop OS, and all of them go like stink and are daily-drivable”
“I use it to control my OpenBSD home router when traveling”
“I use OpenBSD and the code is surprisingly approachable and readable.”
“Running OpenBSD as a daily driver but with no DE.”
“it seems prudent to switch to a NetBSD/OpenBSD/Qubes system for the next few years”
“I use OpenBSD without any DE because I know all the CLI commands to make things happens”
“the documentation is great”
“OpenBSD, etc., any open source Operating System could work too”
“now run them through an OpenBSD packet filter”
“I now use OpenBSD and the port systems of the BSD (each are different BTW) make it also easy to add extra software.”
“I use stock OpenBSD with nothing else for a web server. Very easy to maintain and configure, very good manuals and very good vulnerability track record.”
“My daily driver on all my machines.”
“I like OpenBSD when I want a small, highly-secure, rock-solid reliable system where everything beyond basic multi-user is opt-in, rather than opt-out.”
“On desktop,I use a NFS home dir to a freebsd(zfs) fileserver.”
“The setup on openbsd was very straightforward.”
“I do believe OpenBSD is very very good software”
“obsd is my ultimate comfort system”
“I mainly work inside an openbsd or linux virtual machine.”
“my daily driver which runs OpenBSD”
“Still, they have a convulated install process, dubious hardware and software compatibility that is better solved in the Linux world today.”
“I use OpenBSD for various network appliances.”
“I use OpenBSD and the basic stance is that you need to look at the code of the system and the various software in ports.”
“I use OpenBSD and it’s actually the same thing with the additional niceties of binary packages.”
“OpenBSD is great for a router.”
“I use OpenBSD as a daily driver (but could use Alpine or VoidLinux too)”
“I use OpenBSD for routers and love it”
“I'm using it as a daily driver since Debian adopted systemd and it works great.”
“I recently switched from Debian based servers to OpenBSD and I have never been happier.”
“so much easier to maintain than a linux server for my personal sites”
“I use OpenBSD as my router and firewall at home. I find the configuration of OpenBSD for this a lot more simple”
“I love OpenBSD for similar reasons, except, I still run it as my primary desktop”