Centos vs OpenBSD

Overview

CentOS

Stacks13.8K

Followers9.0K

Votes53

OpenBSD

Stacks46

Followers55

Votes0

Centos vs OpenBSD: What are the differences?

Key Differences between CentOS and OpenBSD

CentOS and OpenBSD are both popular operating systems used in various technical environments. While they share some similarities, there are several key differences between the two.

Licensing Model: CentOS is an open-source Linux distribution that is based on the freely-available source code of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). It can be freely used and modified, but it does not come with official support. On the other hand, OpenBSD is a free and open-source operating system that is released under the BSD license. It allows users to freely use, modify, and distribute the code, while also providing official support through the OpenBSD project.
Purpose and Focus: CentOS is primarily designed for use in enterprise environments, aiming to provide a stable and secure platform for server applications. It focuses on compatibility with RHEL, making it a popular choice for organizations that do not need to invest in the official RHEL license. OpenBSD, on the other hand, is focused on security and correctness. It prioritizes security features, including a strong emphasis on code correctness and proactive measures to mitigate vulnerabilities.
Package Management: CentOS uses the yum package management system, which is compatible with the RHEL ecosystem. It allows users to install, update, and remove software packages easily. In contrast, OpenBSD uses the pkg_add and pkg_delete utilities for package management. The OpenBSD packages are provided and maintained by the OpenBSD project and are designed to be minimal, secure, and cohesive.
Documentation and Community Support: CentOS benefits from the large and active community of users and supporters of the Red Hat ecosystem. As a result, there is extensive documentation, tutorials, and online forums available for CentOS users. OpenBSD, though smaller in terms of user base, has its own dedicated community that provides detailed documentation and support specifically for OpenBSD-related topics. The OpenBSD project also emphasizes its own security-focused documentation.
Default Security Features: CentOS inherits many security features from the RHEL ecosystem, including Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux) and firewalls like iptables. OpenBSD, on the other hand, is well-known for its robust security features and proactive approach to system hardening. OpenBSD includes several security mechanisms by default, such as Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR), process sandboxing, and strict code auditing practices.
Hardware Support: CentOS has broader hardware support due to its wider adoption and compatibility with RHEL. It has extensive driver support for various enterprise-grade hardware components. OpenBSD, while supporting a wide range of hardware, is known for its strong focus on correctness and security over hardware compatibility. This can sometimes result in limited driver support, especially for newer or less common hardware.

In summary, CentOS and OpenBSD differ in their licensing models, purpose and focus, package management systems, community support, default security features, and hardware support. CentOS targets enterprise environments and emphasizes compatibility with RHEL, while OpenBSD prioritizes security, correctness, and proactive measures to mitigate vulnerabilities.

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Advice on CentOS, OpenBSD

Jerome/Zen

Software Engineer

Aug 2, 2020

Decided

Global familiarity, free, widely used, and as a debian distro feels more comfortable when rapidly switching between local macOS and remote command lines.

CentOS does boast quite a few security/stability improvements, however as a RHEL-based distro, differs quite significantly in the command line and suffers from slightly less frequent package updates. (Could be a good or bad thing depending on your use-case and if it is public facing)

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Comments

Detailed Comparison

CentOS	OpenBSD
The CentOS Project is a community-driven free software effort focused on delivering a robust open source ecosystem. For users, we offer a consistent manageable platform that suits a wide variety of deployments. For open source communities, we offer a solid, predictable base to build upon, along with extensive resources to build, test, release, and maintain their code.	It is a free and secure UNIX-like operating system that emphasizes portability, standardization, correctness, proactive security & integrated cryptography.
-	API and build changes;Kernel randomization;Memory protection;Cryptography and randomization;X11
Statistics
Stacks 13.8K	Stacks 46
Followers 9.0K	Followers 55
Votes 53	Votes 0
Pros & Cons
Pros 16 Stable 9 Reliable 9 Free to use 6 Good support 6 Has epel packages Cons 1 Yum is a horrible package manager	No community feedback yet
Integrations
No integrations available	HTML5 C++

What are some alternatives to CentOS, OpenBSD?

Ubuntu

Ubuntu is an ancient African word meaning ‘humanity to others’. It also means ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’. The Ubuntu operating system brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the world of computers.

Debian

Debian systems currently use the Linux kernel or the FreeBSD kernel. Linux is a piece of software started by Linus Torvalds and supported by thousands of programmers worldwide. FreeBSD is an operating system including a kernel and other software.

Arch Linux

A lightweight and flexible Linux distribution that tries to Keep It Simple.

Fedora

Fedora is a Linux-based operating system that provides users with access to the latest free and open source software, in a stable, secure and easy to manage form. Fedora is the largest of many free software creations of the Fedora Project. Because of its predominance, the word "Fedora" is often used interchangeably to mean both the Fedora Project and the Fedora operating system.

Linux Mint

The purpose of Linux Mint is to produce a modern, elegant and comfortable operating system which is both powerful and easy to use.

Linux

A clone of the operating system Unix, written from scratch by Linus Torvalds with assistance from a loosely-knit team of hackers across the Net. It aims towards POSIX and Single UNIX Specification compliance.

CoreOS

It is designed for security, consistency, and reliability. Instead of installing packages via yum or apt, it uses Linux containers to manage your services at a higher level of abstraction. A single service's code and all dependencies are packaged within a container that can be run on one or many machines.

Gentoo Linux

It is a free operating system based on either Linux or FreeBSD that can be automatically optimized and customized for just about any application or need.

Alpine Linux

Alpine Linux is a security-oriented, lightweight Linux distribution based on musl libc and busybox.

Manjaro

It is an accessible, friendly, open-source Linux distribution and community. Based on Arch Linux, it provides all the benefits of cutting-edge software combined with a focus on getting started quickly, automated tools to require less manual intervention, and help readily available when needed.

Related Comparisons

Centos vs OpenBSD: What are the differences?

Key Differences between CentOS and OpenBSD

CentOS and OpenBSD are both popular operating systems used in various technical environments. While they share some similarities, there are several key differences between the two.

Licensing Model: CentOS is an open-source Linux distribution that is based on the freely-available source code of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). It can be freely used and modified, but it does not come with official support. On the other hand, OpenBSD is a free and open-source operating system that is released under the BSD license. It allows users to freely use, modify, and distribute the code, while also providing official support through the OpenBSD project.
Purpose and Focus: CentOS is primarily designed for use in enterprise environments, aiming to provide a stable and secure platform for server applications. It focuses on compatibility with RHEL, making it a popular choice for organizations that do not need to invest in the official RHEL license. OpenBSD, on the other hand, is focused on security and correctness. It prioritizes security features, including a strong emphasis on code correctness and proactive measures to mitigate vulnerabilities.
Package Management: CentOS uses the yum package management system, which is compatible with the RHEL ecosystem. It allows users to install, update, and remove software packages easily. In contrast, OpenBSD uses the pkg_add and pkg_delete utilities for package management. The OpenBSD packages are provided and maintained by the OpenBSD project and are designed to be minimal, secure, and cohesive.
Documentation and Community Support: CentOS benefits from the large and active community of users and supporters of the Red Hat ecosystem. As a result, there is extensive documentation, tutorials, and online forums available for CentOS users. OpenBSD, though smaller in terms of user base, has its own dedicated community that provides detailed documentation and support specifically for OpenBSD-related topics. The OpenBSD project also emphasizes its own security-focused documentation.
Default Security Features: CentOS inherits many security features from the RHEL ecosystem, including Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux) and firewalls like iptables. OpenBSD, on the other hand, is well-known for its robust security features and proactive approach to system hardening. OpenBSD includes several security mechanisms by default, such as Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR), process sandboxing, and strict code auditing practices.
Hardware Support: CentOS has broader hardware support due to its wider adoption and compatibility with RHEL. It has extensive driver support for various enterprise-grade hardware components. OpenBSD, while supporting a wide range of hardware, is known for its strong focus on correctness and security over hardware compatibility. This can sometimes result in limited driver support, especially for newer or less common hardware.

Centos vs OpenBSD

Overview

Centos vs OpenBSD: What are the differences?