[daneel_w]

I think you're overreacting and exaggerating, both regarding OpenBSD being complicated to set up and about the community being toxic.

Yes, a certain few people on the official mailing lists can be a bit vocal and stingy, and that also goes for one or two asocial a**holes on the inofficial IRC channel (#openbsd/libera), but these people are few and by no means representative of the community. For the absolute majority of occasions, people seeking help on these two venues are met with generous and thorough reciprocation.

If you've used unices for 20 years, and in particular if you've installed the Slackware of old, I cannot imagine why you would feel OpenBSD is complicated to set up. It's technically the neatest, tidiest and least convoluted of the UNIX-likes out there, coupled with the best documentation available. Could it be that you approached it as if it were a "Linux-like"? I see this regularly with new users asking for help in #openbsd/libera, trying OpenBSD out with a bit of Linux in their backpack resulting in some common and entirely logical misconceptions.

[znpy]

> I think you're overreacting and exaggerating

I don't think so. I had similar experiences to what GP is reporting.

Edit: I must add, this was many years ago (at least ten)... I then let them on their own playing their games, kept studying gnu/linux and I regret nothing, frankly.

[aspyct]

> I cannot imagine why you would feel OpenBSD is complicated to set up.

Maybe the fact that there are so many manual steps to have a usable, "production grade", setup? Sure, you just have to follow documentation, but you're in for hours of work and learning tons of concepts before having anything secure if it's the first time. Also, if you make a single mistake along the way, all the help you'll get is a "Yeah, you did something wrong. RTFM".

That certainly isn't the definition of simple to me.

[mrweasel]

Just because I think it an awesome feature: Did you know that OpenBSD has an auto install feature, where the entire installer is scripted, no manual steps required? There is also the option for easily customizing the installer to configure the system so it's ready when it initially boot. See: https://man.openbsd.org/autoinstall, https://www.openbsd.org/faq/faq4.html#site and https://openbsd.amsterdam/setup.html for an example.

Even if you're just going through the manual install, there a no more steps than during something like a normal installation of Ubuntu. The disklabel tool isn't that user-friendly, but it's workable and help is available.

I think many believe the installation is complicated, simply because it's not graphical. Overall though, the installation process, the flexibility and tooling available for larger installation is impressive, and much better documented than anything I've seen on Linux.

[yjftsjthsd-h]

Yeah, OpenBSD's autoinstall is absolutely best in class (2nd place, IMO, goes to Red Hat's kickstart), and is the kind of thing where once you've used it you wonder why everybody didn't do it this way. Just... Have the installer take input in text prompts, and then let people record the question and the answer in a text file.

[throwaway2048]

if you want a full system format and are happy with the defaults, you can just keep pressing enter, and besides entering a username and 2 passwords, that is it as far as interacting with the installer goes.

[morganvachon]

You say your background includes Slackware Linux but you find OpenBSD to be difficult, nigh impossible, to install correctly? I think you're being disingenuous. I too have a long history with Slackware, going back to the late 90s, and I first tried OpenBSD back in 2008. Back then, it didn't do nearly as much "out of the box" to help a new user along as it does today in 7.0. Back then the user was expected to know the proper installer URL to set up for pkg_add to work, was expected to know how to manually install closed source firmware if needed, was expected to know how to partition their drive beforehand, was expected to know how to set up and turn on WiFi, and so on. All of that information was of course in the man pages, but the user was expected to carry a lot of the responsibility of bringing up the system for the first time.

Today, the OpenBSD installer literally does all of that for you. It sets the /etc/installurl to a sane default (the OpenBSD CDN URL), it does WiFi autoconfig even if your firmware is not available yet, it has an automatic partitioning feature, and it attempts a firmware update, all before you reboot the first time. Sure, there are a few after-boot setup steps left to do, but no more so than in Slackware 15.0. Both OSes give you a command line after install, both expect you to tweak the OS to your own needs from its base configuration, and OpenBSD even helps you set up your regular user account in the installer rather than leaving you to do it afterwards as Slackware does.

[daneel_w]

Hmm, no, I really have to disagree here. And you need to proceed with the same configuring of for example an httpd on the Linuxes as well after installing the software. These simply are not graphical "click'n'play" environments like IIS on Windows.

[messe]

What were you trying to do?