# OpenBSD 248 Hacker News commenters recommended OpenBSD and 67 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 13 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 20 years (28 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** A stable, security-focused Unix with simple configuration, excellent documentation and painless upgrades, though critics note limited hardware support, slower performance, and a minimalism that inflates its security reputation. ## Why people recommend it - Simple, consistent configuration (5 comments): "I find the configuration of OpenBSD for this a lot more simple and everything that's needed, even for IPv6, is in the base install." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47639800)) "Being able to understand the system, or at least being able to take a quick look when something doesn't work is very refreshing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48194228)) "simple easy to use system that I can configure to meet third party compliance requirements without jumping through hoops" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48199081)) - Security focus and mitigations (6 comments): "the reduced attack surface area of OpenBSD hardware support is a kick in the pants for average users, but desirable for hardened system design" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46712391)) "They've done a lot of security research and pioneered a lot of open source work around OS-level stack smashing technologies" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48884482)) "according to OpenBSD we outsiders have no luck in getting a cryptographically secure operating system except for OpenBSD" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48193452)) - Stable with painless upgrades (5 comments): "I've had my share of sudden power cuts hit OpenBSD during the 20+ years I've been using it, and I have yet to ever see its file system actually go corrupt." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48838535)) "The documentation is fantastic, installation is easy; sysupgrade has been a big improvement, though I wish they'd slow the release cycle a little" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48198069)) "The BSD are very stable. You adjust some configuration, and then updates without having to change your tools or your config with every release." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47705693)) - Excellent, clear documentation (3 comments): "The documentation is fantastic, installation is easy; sysupgrade has been a big improvement, though I wish they'd slow the release cycle a little" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48198069)) "OpenBSD has an additional leg up in that incompatible changes between releases are concisely, clearly, and consistently documented" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46040744)) "simpler and more consistent configuration, less churn, better documentation, focus on security and secure-by-default" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45947020)) ## What people warn about - Security reputation rests on minimalism (6 comments): "The default install of OpenBSD doesn't do anything, so the fact that it hasn't had a remote hole in forever isn't saying much." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50122654)) "Most of their reputation comes from a time when linux distros and windows had every service enabled and exposed by default" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48835182)) "If your operating system only does 20% of what another operating system can do, it's easier for you to have 80% less bugs." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48835368)) - Limited hardware and software support (4 comments): "the reduced attack surface area of OpenBSD hardware support is a kick in the pants for average users, but desirable for hardened system design" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46712391)) "they have a convulated install process, dubious hardware and software compatibility that is better solved in the Linux world today" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48893143)) "Recent OpenBSD versions have had to reduce the range of binary packages on i386 because of the difficulty of compiling them" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46868608)) - Slower performance than alternatives (3 comments): "open-bsd has so many mitigation in place that your computer will probably run 50% slower than a traditional OS" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46474772)) "OpenBSD's filesystem operations are slow not because of UFS2, but because they simply haven't been optimized" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46288579)) "OpenBSD is going through a slow fine grained locking transformation that FreeBSD started over 20 years ago." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46042549)) - Demanding for average users (3 comments): "the reduced attack surface area of OpenBSD hardware support is a kick in the pants for average users, but desirable for hardened system design" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46712391)) "It's only practical for hobbyists. I used OpenBSD as a daily driver between 2001-2005. I fought, I suffered, I conquered" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45947052)) "I would not necessarily recommend this to anyone, you give up a lot, but obsd is my ultimate comfort system" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49138435)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Qubes OS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/qubes-os.md): 98 recommend - [Tails](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tails.md): 14 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "OpenBSD", https://hackerapproved.com/p/openbsd/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).