On 03/07/2012 07:26 AM, Leonardo Sabino dos Santos wrote:
Hi,
I want to tell you about my experience with OpenBSD.
I'm a Linux user, but have always wanted to try OpenBSD. The last time
I'd tried installing it was version 4.6 and I didn't get very far.
That version wouldn't install on my notebook at all. The kernel
couldn't recognise my hard drive because of some AHCI incompatibility
on this notebook that I didn't have the expertise to solve, so I went
back to Linux for the time. Two years later, we're on version 5.0, I
decided to give it another try.
So I downloaded all the package files, wrote them to a USB stick,
created a bootable image with GRUB, booted into the OpenBSD installer
and off we go. Now, this computer already had Windows 7 and Linux,
plus about 16 GB of unpartitioned space where OpenBSD is going. It's
actually the same notebook from two years ago.
i.e., you rolled your own install process on your first install.
I start answering the installer's questions. Keyboard layout. Root
password. Configuration of network interfaces. I'm not actually paying
a whole lot of attention to the questions as this is just a test
installation and I figure I can always explore and configure the
system later.
you did your first test install on a multi-boot machine. again, quite
contrary to the recommendations.
Next, the disk stuff comes up. A lot of partition information appears
on the screen, followed by the question:
Use (W)hole disk or (E)dit the MBR? [whole]
At this point I'm actually trying to remember if there's a way to
scroll back the console, because some information has scrolled of the
screen. I try PageUp, PageDown, Ctrl-UpArrow, Ctrl-DownArrow, but
nothing works,
yes, scrollback is something that was sacrificed on the installer to
keep it able to fit on a floppy (contrary to another contribution to
this thread). Unfortunate, annoying, and unfortunately, I got no better
ideas.
so I press Enter.
oops.
And my partition table is gone. Poof! Instantly, with no confirmation.
I immediately realized what had happened and rebooted. Too late. I got
a "No OS" message. It seems that the OpenBSD installer actually
overwrites the partition table the instant you press Enter.
if you chose "Whole disk", yes...because next step is sub-partitioning,
which can't be done until the last step is completed.
What saved me was an Ubuntu installation CD and the wonderful tool
gpart (http://www.brzitwa.de/mb/gpart/). With a bit of tinkering in
gpart and some very careful work with the Linux version of fdisk, I
managed to reconstruct the partition table and saved my system.
funny thing here. IF you understood OpenBSD...the OpenBSD tools to fix
this would have been MUCH easier than the Linux tool of the week.
Distributing an installation program that can wipe out the user's hard
disk instantly on a single wrong keystroke, without so much as a
confirmation prompt is so shortsighted and irresponsible that I can
barely believe it. This is not about being an expert user or knowing
what you want to do, because I knew exactly what I wanted to do. This
is about incredibly stupid user interface design. Sorry, it's just too
unbelievable that someone would think that this is actually a good
idea.
I'm sorry, I've worked with many many different OSs over decades. I can
think of no OS installer that hitting "Enter" at the wrong time with the
wrong set of conditions can't end up blowing away large amounts of work.
There's a reason I tell you multibooting is not a trivial task and that
new users are encouraged to use a dedicated computer for their first
install, and to PRACTICE a multi-boot install on non-production hw
before doing it on their production machine with existing data. You
have proved the documentation correct.
I joined this mailing list just to tell you this: Right now, I feel
like never, ever touching OpenBSD with a ten-foot pole again.
I would say, based on your critera, yes, you and OpenBSD aren't a good
fit. That's ok.
Personally, I've found the OSs I have worked with (which include several
BSDs, every version of Windows and DOS, and quite a few Linux distros,
among others) all give you opportunities to blow away data during the
install process. And later. If you really want something that double
and triple checks every command you give it and everything you ask it to
do...I'd suggest a Mac. But don't start me on the old Macintosh, "this
disk needs minor repairs, want me to fix it?" [click yes] "Formatting
disk" um. that wasn't minor.
The first machine I installed OpenBSD on was a very old Compaq EISA
machine, with a dedicated maintenance partition. It got blown away
three times before I got the math right on the partition tables...and I
can assure you, the repair process was quite painful and time consuming
(involving at least three floppy disks, as I recall). Result: I know
disk layout REALLY well now, and I LOVE the simple, fast, easy,
consistent and yet un-restricted OpenBSD installer. I despise the
Ubuntu installerS (these features? use THAT installer. other features?
use THIS installer. *sigh*). FreeBSD keeps changing installers and
disk layout tools. CentOS...oh my, that 6.x installer SUCKS (oh, that
little check box hidden away has to be hit to define totally unimportant
stuff like...you know...machine name, network address). Worst part on
most of them is the built-in multi-boot support...which works great
(I'll assume) if you want to do things the way they assume you do...and
fails spectacularly if you don't (which is usually my case)
So yes, OpenBSD has a learning curb (yes, curb. You will have to pick
up your feet to get over it, not just shuffle along as you may be used
to). It's a lot less now than it was 12 years ago, and even then,
OpenBSD was one of the fastest OSs I've ever come up to speed on.
But..you have to put some effort into it...and the rewards, well, are
despising most of the alternatives. :)
(oh the irony. I just deleted files on the wrong machine here. oops.
Good thing I had backups. Wasn't OpenBSD, but the error (right command,
wrong window) is quite platform independent. :)
Nick.
