What are your specific application requirements? OpenBSD is a BSD, not a linux, so you aren't going to have access to the benefits of the linux kernel - specifically hardware support.
You mention the device you are thinking of is a Razer Blade - which is chock full of hardware with closed BIOS and that will require 3rd party drivers. Its not exactly a libre device. The availability of some of that on linux may be limited, and may not exist in many cases on OpenBSD.
Maybe your question would be better posed by describing your requirements - what hardware and software you need/want/would like to use - then people may be able to advise based on that.
My experience on the good side:
- OpenBSD has a very clean code base. Simple and to the point with no useless abstraction, which is ideal if you want to understand your kernel or make light changes. It's obviously opinionated, but I found OpenBSD to be clearer and simpler than FreeBSD and even NetBSD.
- Modification, build and boot of a kernel is a breeze. If you have been frustrated with Linux kernel development, OpenBSD is a million times simpler.
- If you use a common laptop, especially ThinkPads T series, then hardware and drivers won't be an issue.
- My usage is pretty typical for a programmer user: I need a WM (i3), a browser, a nice terminal, and development tools (c, c++, rust, python). Software is pretty up to date IMHO, nothing to complain about.
On the bad side:
- I found the core community annoying and immature. Every discussion that implies something could be done in a manner that ressembles what Linux does has to be mocked and turned to derision. It feels like a small circle of long time friends keep the projects in their hands and if you're either in or out this circle. This leads to a "us versus them" mentality that I dislike.
Really forces me to think about what I want versus need out of a computer.
> pros & cons
+ Comes with everything for a home lab: packet filter, DHCP server, FTP, and web server.
+ Bundled with C compiler and perl in base.
- Limited drawing tablet support.
> What laptop
Any model with a successful installation blog post will do.
> OpenBSD over Trisquel
With two cheaper machines for the price of one, one could run both operating systems. Then you can learn kernel compile, static IP, SSH, and practice sysadmin tasks (backups, cron, OS internals) from both perspectives.
There were occasional situations where esoteric hardware support was iffy (especially software driven win modems). I anecdotally believe there’s a better experience today but would probably pay attention to GPU and wifi hardware.
Install is a breeze, probably one of the better install experiences out there. The port system was very easy to use to install 3rd party apps. Also pretty easy to build most things from source or modify for its particular differences.
The community around source contribution takes a little adjustment since there is a real focus on the OS design goals and less so on specific edge cases. Contributing to ports is a little more accessible.
I’ve used FreeBSD around the same time with similar experience. A little larger of a community there though I found OpenBSD’s contributors to be highly engaged and accessible.
If you intend to use it as a desktop OS, the amount of things you have to add will likely greatly increase the surface area to secure.
We once had a breach where through an insecure third-party service (I forget but it may have been some PHP script), someone managed to execute a remote payload on an openbsd server.
Luckily, the payload assumed a Linux system with an available C compiler, and it failed to “explode” in the alien openbsd environment.
To sum up, openbsd is indeed more secure but it’s not a panacea. As long as you follow best personal computing security practices you should be ok with either Linux or Openbsd.
ThinkPads might be your best bet. Someone here has cataloged their experience with OpenBSD on laptops: https://jcs.org/openbsd-laptops
Suggest using Debian and accepting that internet connected computers are not secure against hacking or spyware, however you try to set them up.
What's your threat model that a vanilla Fedora or Ubuntu install isn't secure?
The installation procedure was rather easy, I just had some hiccups when configuring stuff due to my background with Linux vs how things are done in *BSD.
But security comes at the expense of system responsiveness, so if things with an i3 processor were rather slow, all the stuff OpenBSD makes to keep you secure don't help much in that regard. Still I guess for more decent specs it can be much more bearable.
Another trade-off is that you're supposed to read a lot of documentation. Questioning things are discouraged because their documentation is the holy scriptures for them and everything is already answered there, since how to start X at boot to the meaning of life and the ultimate end of the universe. Not a welcoming mindset for newbies in my humble opinion, and even less for us who don't speak english as their native language, but surprisingly (and funny enough) some of the *BSD people diss at Linux since it's the latter the popular one and not them... So yeah, if you want a secure system you must devote a fair share of time into reading (technical) documentation, but surely you'll learn a thing or two.
I personally couldn't bear pkg/pkgsrc at all - I'm so used to Portage it felt so restrictive in terms of customizability. But if you come from, say, apt or rpm, it would be fine I guess. I heard even KDE is available for it so it seems they're working hard in making more software available for them.
Still it seems nothing beats OpenBSD in terms of security so it will be a great choice for you.
I cannot say much about security, but in terms of reliability, I have only good things to say about the system.
EDIT: Once you connect a device to the Internet and possibly install third-party software on it, your own expertise is likely to have a bigger impact on security than the underlying system. I am not recommending to NOT use OpenBSD, but if you have no prior experience with it, you might have a better experience using what you know.
Linux GPU story is not stellar but for embedded applications it’s not too bad; KMS, DRM, and GL or GLES library stack worked amazingly well for me.
2. Pros: Secure, clear documentation and straight forward to configure, quality tools made by the project- pf is fantastic (I use authpf a lot too). The packages tend to have what you need included (php, etc.) When you get something set up it tends to keep running well for a long time.
Cons: If the package isn't well maintained, then it will eventually be removed, so there are some packages missing, but usually you can just compile it yourself. It also means the packages that exist tend to be maintained well and are secure.
3. Not sure on this, but one thing to check is the WiFi card. I tried with an older ThinkPad, and some of the ThinkPads have compatible Wifi cards, and some didn't. I got one that wasn't compatible.
- The UNIX(TM) experience
- Better manual pages than linux
- Excellent testing ground if you want to keep your scriptery portable
Cons:
- Binary incompatible with glibc linux
- No driver support for my specific iwlwifi card
OpenBSD is very well documented and if you are focused on security research or development it can be a good choice.
2. Pro: Only two remote holes in the default install, in a heck of a long time! Con: Less (pre-built) software than linuxes.
3. Something cheaper than a Razer-Blade.
4. You have not stated your requirements other than 'security', which if you demand no more than two remote holes in a very long time, then OpenBSD it is. If 'security' means something other than that you might want to go with a different OS.
Pros:
- no-bullshit OS
- very clean, you know what is where and why
- distraction-free
- proactive security approach
- slow if you use heavy software like Chrome
- web assembly is turned off by default for security reasons (login to Hetzner or Sinology, using Google Docs is a problem)
- watching videos in the browser does not feel great
What are you planning to use it for (laptop suggests possibly a workstation?)
And what is your threat model? Who is the most likely attacker - govt? Crypto theft? Supply chain?
See also: https://forum.qubes-os.org/t/qubesos-vs-openbsd-security/790...
It was good luck to be exposed to BSD in school.
- bsd is good enough for servers
- mainstream Linux is good enough for desktops
- forget about OSS laptops unless it’s a 15 years old thinkpad
OpenBSD base system is designed to be a very secure server OS, but this comes at the expense of requiring you to read a lot of docs and figure things out when you leave the base system. Drivers may be annoying and 3rd party software that expects Linux will not work easily. It is definitely far off the paved road. If you want your computer life to be an Interesting Challenge or Hobby, it’s good, but if you want to just get stuff done it may be frustrating.
I suggest you look into QubesOS, which has put a lot of work and research into isolating GUI applications from each other using hypervisor. Its hardened Linux VMs with a hypervisor underneath and probably what I would pick if I wanted a “secure workstation OS”. It will probably work with more laptop wifi cards than OpenBSD. https://www.qubes-os.org/