OpenBSD 6.7
Are you looking for a simple operating system tailored to help you participate in all aspects of the global Internet? Allow me to pitch a project that produces free and modern implementations of the most popular Internet protocols!
Even though OpenBSD’s origin story goes back almost 25 years, there is nothing pre-historic about this project. OpenBSD is a well-renowned powerhouse for innovation. Every day extremely talented developers share their latest software creations — through the OpenBSD project — with all of the world to enjoy, for everyone to use as they see fit.
This tireless sharing of creativity helped create a world where now virtually every computer and smartphone on the planet contains pieces of OpenBSD software.
It sounds crazy, but with a single 450 megabyte file download you can easily bootstrap an entire Internet service provider. That one download contains enough to operate excellent BGP border routers with carrier-grade RPKI and fully-featured PE/P MPLS capabilities, DNS & NTP services, firewalling & load-balancing, even multi-tenancy through virtual machines — all securely managed through SSH!
The system comes with fantastic documentation and a full developer environment installed, this closes the loop by enabling everyone to participate in the project’s development process through the Internet. Doctor Who perfectly captured their admiration for a similar TARDIS: “It’s bigger on the inside.”
The 6.7 release specifically stands out because during this development cycle we all suddenly shared a world in which COVID-19 had come into existence. It made me realise we now more than ever depend on the Internet itself to work together on software to help operate the Internet.
Given that the Internet itself doesn’t really restrict the wild influx of ideas on how to potentially run it or what the software should look like; it seems to me a safe path forward is to use peer-reviewed open source software and open Internet standards. To me, OpenBSD is a complete interpretation of the real Internet.
