[pcalvert]

I have a 1999-era laptop that I'd like to put OpenBSD on. Originally, I wanted to put VectorLinux on it because it is known for running well on older hardware. However, yesterday I discovered OpenBSD and I really like its emphasis on security. The problem is that I know very little about it.

Here are the specs for my laptop:

300 MHz Pentium II
256 MB RAM
40 GB HDD

Would OpenBSD make a decent desktop OS on this hardware? BTW, I don't plan to use KDE or Gnome. For a windows manager I'd want to use something like XFCE or fluxbox.

Phil

[bmw]

I can almost guarantee that OpenBSD will like your laptop. Quick test: download the boot floppies or CD and see if that will boot.

Have fun!

[frisco]

1999 is old?

One of my coworkers still uses a P233 desktop as his primary machine at home.

With regards to the floppies, there are 3, each has different drivers, if one doesn't detect the right devices (e.g. networking) on your laptop, another probably will.

As for X, the video card in that laptop is important too.

[molotov]

Ion works great on old laptops with weird nice. Kinda harsh learning curve, but once you learn it you can fly.

[pcalvert]

I can almost guarantee that OpenBSD will like your laptop. Quick test: download the boot floppies or CD and see if that will boot.

Have fun!

Glad to hear that. It would be a shame to find OpenBSD and then not be able to run it. Of course, if it turns out that I can't, there's always later. I plan to build my own desktop machine sometime within the next year or two. When I build it, I'll make sure that I pick hardware that's 100% compatible with OpenBSD.

Phil

[pcalvert]

1999 is old?

One of my coworkers still uses a P233 desktop as his primary machine at home.

With regards to the floppies, there are 3, each has different drivers, if one doesn't detect the right devices (e.g. networking) on your laptop, another probably will.

As for X, the video card in that laptop is important too.


> 1999 is old?

Not really. Some people would consider it old, but I am currently using this laptop as my primary workstation. With plenty of RAM, a fast hard drive, and a stripped-down version of Windows 98 SE (thanks to 98lite), its performance is quite snappy. A big improvement over what it was when I first bought it.


> With regards to the floppies, there are 3, each has different drivers, if
> one doesn't detect the right devices (e.g. networking) on your laptop,
> another probably will.

Thanks for the tip. I hadn't even considered using floppies. I have a DVD drive on my laptop that is bootable, so I was going to try download some ISOs and burn a few CDs. Hmm, I just had a thought. Is there something like Knoppix, except it's for OpenBSD instead of Linux?


> As for X, the video card in that laptop is important too.

The video card is a Chips and Technologies 96000 PCI.


Phil

[pcalvert]

Ion works great on old laptops with weird nice. Kinda harsh learning curve, but once you learn it you can fly.

I'm not quite sure what you mean. Is Ion a windows manager?


Phil

[bmw]

I hadn't even considered using floppies. I have a DVD drive on my laptop that is bootable, so I was going to try download some ISOs and burn a few CDs.
You won't find a downloadable OpenBSD ISO. The release ISO is copyrighted by OpenBSD and sales of that are a major source of funding. It's cheap ($30 or so) and well worth the money.

Hmm, I just had a thought. Is there something like Knoppix, except it's for OpenBSD instead of Linux?
Not that I'm aware of. There's FreesBIE with FreeBSD on it, but none for Open I suspect.

The usual non-ISO way to install OpenBSD is to make boot floppies, boot the PC and install over the net via FTP or from previously downloaded tar.gz disti files.

[bumbler]

To add a little encouragement, I'm using a Gateway Solo 2500, running a 266Mhz CPU with 160MB RAM. The wimpy 2MB video chipset (NeoMagic) is just enough to get by running FreeBSD 4.11. I can't imagine OpenBSD is significantly heavier on resource use. As it is, my laptop came with a 3Com PCMCIA modem that connects faster than my desktop does. With the 12GB harddrive someone gave me, I really don't need a whole lot more computer. I am in the process of transferring most of my stuff to the laptop, with room to spare.

[Amicus]

You won't find a downloadable OpenBSD ISO. The release ISO is copyrighted by OpenBSD and sales of that are a major source of funding. It's cheap ($30 or so) and well worth the money.

But there is an installation .ISO. This is the same as the boot floppies in .ISO format. Just burn the .ISO, install packages via net.
ftp://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/3.6/i386/cd36.iso is what I'm speaking of. This is usually what I do when I'm waiting on my release CD's to come in the mail :smile:

[pcalvert]

You won't find a downloadable OpenBSD ISO. The release ISO is copyrighted by OpenBSD and sales of that are a major source of funding. It's cheap ($30 or so) and well worth the money.

That's unfortunate. I have no problem with paying for CDs, but I can't see doing it before I even know that OpenBSD is going to work for me. So I will have to get started by downloading all the files and burning them to CDs so I can try to install the OS. In order to promote OpenBSD, the folks behind it might want to make ISOs of an older version available for download. In other words, sell CDs of the latest version, but allow ISOs of the previous version to be downloaded. Something to consider...



The usual non-ISO way to install OpenBSD is to make boot floppies, boot the PC and install over the net via FTP or from previously downloaded tar.gz disti files.

Installing via ftp isn't a viable option since I am on a dial-up connection. However, I do have access to a Dell desktop with a CD burner and a high-speed connection. It really comes in handy. When I find a file I'd like to download, but it's kind of big, I copy the link and save it in a text file. Occasionally, after I accumulate a bunch of links, I'll get on the Dell and spend several hours downloading hundreds of megabytes of files and then burn them all onto a CD or two. :biggrin:


Phil

[frisco]

Installing via ftp isn't a viable option since I am on a dial-up connection. However, I do have access to a Dell desktop with a CD burner and a high-speed connection.


For the most part, the aforementioned boot iso is enough to verify that OpenBSD will just run, that is, that all devices are detected. There are some differences between the boot cd kernel and the GENERIC kernel, but mostly related to esoteric devices.

You have a few choices:
- via the dell, download all the install sets and the bootable iso from openbsd.org and burn yourself 2 cd's, one using the iso and another containing just the packes.
- same as above, but download cdrom36.fs as well and use it to burn one cd with that as the boot image and the instal sets on it (this is what i do).
- via the dell, download one of the unofficial iso's and use that, such as http://openbsd.sabotage.org

[LooseChanj]

Installing via ftp isn't a viable option since I am on a dial-up connection. However, I do have access to a Dell desktop with a CD burner and a high-speed connection. It really comes in handy. When I find a file I'd like to download, but it's kind of big, I copy the link and save it in a text file. Occasionally, after I accumulate a bunch of links, I'll get on the Dell and spend several hours downloading hundreds of megabytes of files and then burn them all onto a CD or two. :biggrin:

My usual MO when a release comes out is to d/l the i386 dir, and make a bootable cd with one of the floppy images as the boot. The hard part about including packages is dependencies. You can't just d/l kde*, for instance. The last time I tried I'd do a pkg_add with the flags that tell it not to actually do anything, just to see what else was needed. It's a pain, but it's doable.

[pcalvert]

To add a little encouragement, I'm using a Gateway Solo 2500, running a 266Mhz CPU with 160MB RAM. The wimpy 2MB video chipset (NeoMagic) is just enough to get by running FreeBSD 4.11. I can't imagine OpenBSD is significantly heavier on resource use. As it is, my laptop came with a 3Com PCMCIA modem that connects faster than my desktop does. With the 12GB harddrive someone gave me, I really don't need a whole lot more computer. I am in the process of transferring most of my stuff to the laptop, with room to spare.

Hey bumbler,

Thanks for the encouragement. How do you like FreeBSD?

BTW, I've seen people say stuff like, "Of course, you'd want to install FreeBSD and not OpenBSD. OpenBSD is a great server OS, but it's not suitable as a desktop OS." Why do people say stuff like that? Do they not bother to verify that what they are telling people is correct? Anyway, I'm glad I ignored them and decided to find out for myself.

Phil

[bmw]

pcalvert, that's what it always boils down to. The answer to "what to use for your desktop OS" depends on the question asked. If you need more ports than OBSD offers, then FBSD is a good alternative. In general the emphasis in these two projects is on different things. But many people use OpenBSD as a desktop and they are happy. I myself used to run OBSD as a desktop and it served my (then) needs admirably.

[bumbler]

I could answer in the same generalities as the others, but the truth is, I haven't tried OpenBSD. I have tried NetBSD, and it has some really good qualities. The bottom line is that FreeBSD works like I do; NetBSD does not. Superiority is hardly the issue. I have no need to play much with the others. There is no perfect OS, but when you get pretty close, you'll know it. I've done lots of Linux, several distros, and FreeBSD is closer to how I operate. Obviously, I really like it. If you have the chance to sample all three, I recommend it.