Why OpenBSD 7.1’s Security‑First Design Matters for Modern Computing

OpenBSD 7.1 was released today, adding support for 13 different computer architectures, notably Apple’s M1 processor.

OpenBSD, a member of the BSD family, was founded by Theo de Raadt in 1993 after his work on NetBSD, and the first OpenBSD release (1.2) appeared in 1996.

In brief, OpenBSD emphasizes robustness and security, NetBSD focuses on broad platform support, and FreeBSD aims to provide a modern OS for the most popular platforms.

Since its inception, OpenBSD 7.1 is the 52nd release and has seen only two remote vulnerabilities, highlighting its strong security track record.

According to surveys such as BSDstats, OpenBSD and NetBSD trail behind FreeBSD in popularity.

The OS supports a wide range of hardware: x86‑32, x86‑64, ARM7, ARM64, DEC Alpha, HP PA‑RISC, Hitachi SH4, Motorola 88000, MIPS64, SPARC64, RISC‑V 64, as well as Apple and IBM PowerPC, with improved support for Apple Silicon Macs ready for office use.

Running OpenBSD in VirtualBox proved fast and straightforward. The installer automatically partitions the disk into nine complex slices and sets up the OS, bootloader, X server, display manager, and the FVWM window manager. After reboot, a graphical login appears followed by a Motif‑style desktop with an xterm.

Installing XFCE provides screen‑resolution settings and other details, while KDE, GNOME and other polished front‑ends, along with familiar tools such as Mozilla Firefox and LibreOffice, are also available.

OpenBSD may be niche, but the project has contributed OpenSSH, LibreSSL, the PF firewall used in macOS, and much of the Bionic C library found in Android.

In the OS world, OpenBSD offers a refreshing return to the early‑1990s Unix era, demanding effort and learning to master the system, but rewarding users with a hard‑core environment that sharpens Unix skills.