Preparation time: A sunny afternoon
After the FreeBSD notes, here's OpenBSD. Why OpenBSD? It's less insecure* than FreeBSD, e.g through Xorg running as a regular user and a (partial) ASLR implementation. It also has better support for obscure hardware (in my case, an old Toshiba laptop).
* DEF CON speak for "more secure".
A fair warning, while OpenBSD has some nice features I've found it slow and unreliable as a desktop. But don't let that discourage your beard growth, or maybe you're more lucky than me.
* * *
OpenBSD comes in three flavours (FAQ 5.1), with approximate Debian equivalents:
- RELEASE: stable
- STABLE: stable-updates
- CURRENT: unstable
This guide is for RELEASE, but only CURRENT has updated packages. STABLE needs a system rebuilt from source.
http://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/5.5/
install.fs is for USB sticks, install.iso for CDs. Use dd for former, cdw (or similar) for latter.
Before continuing you want to read the OpenBSD FAQ, especially Chapters 4 (Installation), 9 (Migrating to OpenBSD) and 15 (Ports). Check "6.13 - What are my wireless networking options?" if you're on Wifi.
http://www.openbsd.org/faq/index.html
Installation is straightforward. Grillers will notice you can make custom install sets recognized by the installer.
One notable difference is partioning; where Linux usually has a root and swap partition only, OpenBSD uses many different ones. Religion:
init: rc
sound: sndio
package management: pkg_add
window manager: fvwm, cwm
editor: vi
Login and you'll see a message from Theo:
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$ mail
$ 1
exit
Package sources:
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# vi /etc/profile
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export PKG_PATH=http://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/5.5/packages/i386
If you want bash instead of ksh
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# . /etc/profile
# pkg_add -iv bash-4.2.45p0
# usermod -s /usr/local/bin/bash <youruser>
# usermod -s /usr/local/bin/bash root
http://daemonforums.org/showthread.php?t=2232
Compare to Linux where user mounts need sudoers or udevil or polkit or whatever. Keep in mind you need to relogin to apply group changes.
Disable ipv6
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# ifconfig <interface> -inet6
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up -inet6
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# netstat -at | grep LISTEN
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# pkg_add -ivvvvv nano-2.2.6.tgz xfce-4.10p0 cups-1.7.1p0 libreoffice-4.1.4.2v0-no_java ntfs_3g-2013.1.13p2
Doing large installs in a TTY seems more reliable, but even then, it takes A LONG TIME. Max verbose so you don't get worried. Afterwards it will tell what services were added; to start them at boot, edit /etc/rc.conf.local (see man rc.conf). For example:
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pkg_scripts="dbus_daemon avahi_daemon avahi_dnsconfd cupsd cups_browsed"
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# pkg_add -uv
I've had problems with Xinitrc, so I went with SLiM. Maybe it pulled in some depends I had missed before.
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pkg_add -i slim-1.3.6p2
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/usr/libexec/locate.updatedb
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:datasize-max=1024M:\
:datasize-cur=1024M:\
More bestial tips:
http://eradman.com/posts/openbsd-workstation.html
http://www.bsdnow.tv/tutorials/the-desktop-obsd
Scrot or it didn't happen: