OpenBSD 4.8 Released
undeadly.org
undeadly.org
I am not a C fan, but I've read the OpenBSD code and it's solid. Instead of ignoring the details like integer truncation, string length, and error checking, they actually care about this stuff. The result is a reliable system instead of a mostly-reliable system.
It's also very simple - an installed base system will have around 20 processes, all of which are instantly recognizable, and nearly everything is configured and documented in a straightforward manner.
Go build a firewall with OpenBSD. You will learn something new and be a better sysadmin afterwards.
That's how Theo run the team. Like an engineering project. Less hacking, more engineering.
while there is a certain "release engineering" process that goes on every 6 months to slow down development, stabilize the code, freeze it, tag it, test it, and ship it, all of the development work that is done between releases is just hacking. there isn't a roadmap of features and what gets worked on is whatever anyone feels like working on.
openbsd developers gather at hackathons (http://www.openbsd.org/hackathons.html) every so often to work closely with others on specific features or projects, hash out ideas, test on weird hardware, and just get to socialize with other developers that live in different parts of the world. nobody is told what to do at those events and unless it's a specific mini-hackathon for ports or pf or something, everyone is kind of doing their own thing independently or in small teams.
I think the idea is that developers should have some sort of SOP (Standard Operating Procedure). I know some people will moan when they heard that abbreviation, especially if people just want to "hack some code".
It comes down to discipline and professionalism really.
Interesting video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7pkyDUX5uM
"Twelve years ago OpenBSD developers started engineering a release process that has resulted in quality software being delivered on a consistent 6 month schedule -- 25 times in a row, exactly on the date promised, and with no critical bugs. This on-time delivery process is very different from how corporations manage their product releases and much more in tune with how volunteer driven communities are supposed to function. Developer and testing laziness is mostly circumvented and leader frustration is kept to a minimum. The reasons, mechanics and social workings of our process have never been detailed outside the project, but now will be, hopefully providing some insight to others who face delays and quality issues with their own product lines."
edit: GEM reference -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphics_Execution_Manager
OpenBSD inteldrm(4) -- http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=inteldrm&se...
I haven't put OpenBSD on a real "embedded" system, but I've installed it on stripped-down, ancient attic hardware over null modems. I don't doubt that it would scale down even further. It makes an incredibly dependable firewall.
This release adds better suspend and resume as well as new IKE and LDAP
daemons, a bunch of network and SCSI stack improvements and much more!
If he got hit by a bus, would the project go on, or as smoothly?