[dbolgheroni]

This is a misconception. The "lag a lot" is very much debatable. For a lot of areas, specifically OpenBSD, is pushing the boundaries[1], not lagging behind. That's why they don't guarantee user space stability or even ABI stability inside the kernel, to move faster. Just check this recent case[2] about Linux is not enforcing IBT/BTI on its binaries and this being a known problem since 2001, while OpenBSD is solving this.

But again, people have different conceptions of lagging behind. Some people think not having a graphical installer is to "lag behind", when this is pretty much a design decision and not a problem of fewer people working on new things.

[1] https://www.openbsd.org/innovations.html [2] https://undeadly.org/cgi?action=article;sid=20230714121907

[toyg]

It's not about the installer (who even uses those anymore?), it's about features and power.

Linux has had a lot of work done to support complex features and scaling in a number of aspects, whereas OpenBSD has not. In fact, the insistence on security and keeping things conceptually simple, almost inevitably means they pass on some significant improvements. When you want pure power, OpenBSD is just not the best choice, for example; and the virtualization stack is very primitive.