Getting into OpenBSD

Some things I have found useful to know as an OpenBSD noob

First things first, I am a genuine newbie with regards to OpenBSD, but I wanted to point out some things that I have found particularly useful to know, have or learn, as I started out on this journey. So here it is, a basic list of the most useful and relevant points. This might also make useful reading to those approaching any other UNIX-like operating system, including but not limited to, Linux, FreeBSD and Mac OS/X (Darwin). I am not a Mac owner or user, so I really can't offer any specific advice there.

• If you are coming to OpenBSD from Windows, forget pretty much all of what you know. In fact, unless you are something of a genuine Windows guru, I would advise you to get into Linux or maybe FreeBSD, before you take on learning OpenBSD. Whilst OpenBSD has many merits, unless you have a particular way of thinking, user-friendliness isn't one of them and never will be. Once you know how to look for it, there is a lot of information within OpenBSD and it's related resources, to help you into or out of virtually every situation. However, what you won't find is a big blue button with a question mark on it, taking you to an even bigger point and click help system. You'll need to look at man pages, web FAQ's and even the source code, to find out some pieces of information. Be prepared to learn and to at least try to help yourself, before you ask for the help of others.
• Get yourself some good books, of which I recommend plenty on the books page. I would highly recommend Unix Power Tools for general UNIX information and usage, with Absolute OpenBSD: Unix for the Practical Paranoid and Secure Architectures with OpenBSD as two excellent OpenBSD specific, if slightly dated, books. Another excellent and higly rated book is Jacek Artymiak's Building Firewalls with OpenBSD and PF, if that title describes your requirements of OpenBSD. On the books page, I have Amazon links to many books that I find useful. (Please use these links if you intend to buy any of the listed titles, as this site makes a very small commission from it. Thank you.) Give yourself some background knowledge on the operating system, and UNIX in general, most notably make sure you know how to use the man command.
• Subscribe to misc@openbsd.org at the very least. This will help you to keep abreast of things in the OpenBSD community, see what other's are experiencing and how people go about their work with it. There is an excellent archive service available, to check through past postings to the list. Have a good look into the archives and read as much of the list postings, as you can handle, as it will help you to get into the OpenBSD way of thinking and doing things.
• Dedicate a machine to OpenBSD, for your learning process. Thankfully this is one thing that I haven't had to learn the hard way, as I have a few machines at my disposal. However, I have wiped and reinstalled OpenBSD on enough of them, more than enough times, to realise what might have happened if I had been dual or multi booting OpenBSD with one or more other operating systems. Don't have your dedicated machine crammed with every PCI card that you can lay your hands on and certainly don't have it using non-server cards, if you want to make the most of them. By this, I mean, don't expect to have an accelerated 3D graphics card in there and be able to make use of OpenGL support, it's just not going to happen. Whilst OpenBSD is suitable for a workstation, it will be precisely that and not a work, rest and play station. In the same way as a programmer could well use a server for their needs, a gamer is very unlikely to be able to do the same.
• Buy yourself an official OpenBSD CD set. I won't batter on again about why you should do this, seeing as I have written a page about it already.
• If you can, treat yourself to a non-i386 computer. As you will have noticed, I have a thing for my Sun machine and it was a cheap buy. The Unix Nerd will sort you out with a very good deal. There are various reasons to go for something like a Sun machine, but the primary one here will be the added security through diversity one. Most malware, trojans and other forms of malicious software, is written for the i386 family of processors, so if it tries to run on an UltraSparc processor, for example, it's going to hit a wall. I have also found my Ultra 5 to be very reliable indeed and has very low power consumption, compared to my other machines. There's also the geek appeal of having something away from the norm and it's also a little more experience for you.

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