OpenBSD KDE Plasma Desktop

Porting KDE Plasma to OpenBSD

• Thread highlights this as a multi‑year effort by very few people; commenters see it as a major, non‑trivial porting and packaging job.
• KDE developers in the thread express happiness about the port and interest in hearing a detailed “lessons learned” report at KDE events.
• Some wonder if KDE itself could make such ports easier in the future.
• Plasma is also being ported or packaged for other non‑Linux platforms (Haiku, Microsoft Store, historical Mac OS X / Darwin attempts).

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*Wayland and the Future of X on BSD

• FreeBSD is said to have Wayland working “pretty well.”
• OpenBSD currently has experimental Wayland/Sway support in -current; there is active porting work, but it’s not in base and likely never will be.
• One side claims X is effectively “going away” as toolkits drop X paths; others argue X will persist, maintained by volunteers even if large orgs drop it.
• Tone ranges from pragmatic to openly hostile toward Wayland, with strong disagreement about trajectory and maintainability.

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OpenBSD vs Linux: Pros, Cons, and Use Cases

• Pros cited:
  • Secure‑by‑default, minimal running services.
  • Consistent design as a single OS, not a loose distro stack.
  • High code quality, systematic audits, strong documentation and man pages.
  • pf firewall and built‑in, security‑hardened daemons (httpd, mail, routing, VPN, etc.).
  • pledge(2) and unveil(2) as simple, developer‑friendly hardening tools.
• Cons cited:
  • Hardware support (especially GPU, Wi‑Fi, high‑speed networking) behind Linux.
  • Less software and weaker compatibility with Linux‑specific tooling (Docker, eBPF, rr, etc.).
  • Filesystem considered basic; some worry about corruption and recommend a UPS.
  • Slower or inadequate performance as a firewall at high speeds for some; others report gigabit is fine with good NICs.

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Security Mechanisms Debate

• OpenBSD’s pledge/unveil get praise for simplicity and being widely integrated into base userland (including Firefox sandboxing via unveil).
• Critics call them “toys” compared to SELinux/AppArmor, noting they’re opt‑in and less expressive.
• Others push back, arguing heavyweight MAC systems are complex, noisy to manage across upgrades, and often overkill.
• Discussion covers trade‑offs between transparent confinement (AppArmor/SELinux) and explicit, per‑program declarations (pledge/unveil, jails, chroot).

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User‑Friendliness and “Desktop BSDs”

• There is confusion over BSD “distros” vs distinct kernels: FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD are not analogous to Linux distros.
• For a beginner‑friendly desktop BSD, FreeBSD is frequently suggested (package volume, documentation); NetBSD’s docs and OpenBSD’s simplicity also get praise.
• Some argue if one is looking for a Mint/Ubuntu‑style experience, BSDs may not be the right ecosystem; others point to derivative projects (GhostBSD, helloSystem, ravynOS, MidnightBSD, etc.) as ease‑of‑use experiments.
• Several users say OpenBSD is “user‑friendly” in the sense of conceptual simplicity, not in hiding complexity.

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System Simplicity vs Modern Linux Complexity

• Multiple comments romanticize OpenBSD (and some minimal Linux setups) where ps and htop show only a handful of obvious processes; the system “does nothing you didn’t ask it to.”
• Contrast is drawn with typical mainstream Linux distros (and macOS) that feel opaque and overgrown, giving some users a sense that they can’t really understand their systems.
• Suggestions include trying Gentoo, Slackware, or Linux From Scratch to regain insight into system composition.

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doas vs sudo

• doas is appreciated for its tiny configuration and smaller attack surface; it emerged partly in response to repeated sudo issues.
• Others find its advantages over sudo underwhelming and miss advanced logging and integration features.
• On at least one Linux system, doas fully replaces sudo without problems, but inertia in tooling expectations is noted.

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Desktop Experience and NixOS Comparison

• Some highlight that on NixOS, switching window managers can be a one‑line config change, though others note a steep learning curve and “8 hours of Googling” if done infrequently.
• Someone compares Nix’s KDE Plasma module size (large) with OpenBSD’s ports metadata (smaller), emphasizing that neither effort is trivial.

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KDE Plasma Impressions and Hardware Constraints

• Plasma on Linux is praised as highly polished, customizable yet unobtrusive—“the desktop gets out of the way” while still being powerful.
• A few report resource‑heaviness (e.g., Akonadi, GPU usage) and prefer lighter tiling environments like i3/sway.
• OpenBSD’s lack of Nvidia support is a blocker for some modern desktop hardware; AMD on Intel Macs is considered a possible target.

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Cultural Notes and Humor

• Thread includes nostalgia about old BSD memes, national politicians referencing UNIX, and niche internet culture (e.g., furry IT memes).
• The “GitHup” typo in the article is noticed and jokingly hoped to be a clever project name.
• Some comments nostalgically recall quieter network times (very little background traffic in Wireshark) as “zen,” contrasted with today’s chatty systems.