Utils:

ssh

  • obvious

mg

  • debloated emacs
    • even smaller than nvi/nex!

tmux

  • a lot of people don’t realize this is an OpenBSD project
  • session retention

doas

  • configuring sudo feels horrible after configuring doas
  • invaluable in ports

pf

  • ironic that this is most popular outside of OpenBSD (PFSense)

ifconfig

  • command line interface translates directly to configuration files

login.conf/login

  • anything on PenguinOS seems insane by comparison
    • especially oom killer

sndio

  • actually works
    • hopefully this gets popular outside of OpenBSD ;) ;) ;)

vmm/vmd

  • still in its early stages, but I love it

got (technically not an OpenBSD project, but adjacent)

  • debloated git
  • partial git compatibility

Library Functions/Syscalls:

pledge & unveil

  • interesting new approach to jails
  • set and forget, no interaction needed on the user’s end
    • with exceptions like chromium & firefox

strtonum

  • far nicer than strto* functions in stdlib

malloc

  • now with use after free and leak detection! who needs valgrind?
  • @mcornickEnglish
    3•6 months ago

    Readers of this thread might find https://why-openbsd.rocks/ interesting.

    I’ve been using OpenBSD for years now and still find new and helpful stuff in core on occasion. For instance, this week I wanted to convert some old CDs to FLAC, and found cdio can do the CDDA extraction (and faster than cdparanoia, even.)

    I use cwm on my OpenBSD workstations. It is fast, stays out of my way, and does not depend on a whole cockamamie “desktop environment.” It’s not for everyone (especially those who feel the need to “theme” things) but I like that it’s available in core.