From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sun Jun 3 06:15:33 2007 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [69.147.83.52]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E9FB616A400 for ; Sun, 3 Jun 2007 06:15:33 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from sonicy@otenet.gr) Received: from rosebud.otenet.gr (rosebud.otenet.gr [195.170.0.94]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5D9C813C45B for ; Sun, 3 Jun 2007 06:15:33 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from sonicy@otenet.gr) Received: from atlantis.dyndns.org (athedsl-317246.home.otenet.gr [85.72.94.220]) by rosebud.otenet.gr (8.13.8/8.13.8/Debian-3) with ESMTP id l536FUbN012875 for ; Sun, 3 Jun 2007 09:15:31 +0300 Message-ID: <46625C7A.2060604@otenet.gr> Date: Sun, 03 Jun 2007 09:15:22 +0300 From: Manolis Kiagias User-Agent: Thunderbird 2.0.0.0 (X11/20070419) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org References: <4661FAC9.9010806@transpacific.net> <20070602201740.202e768a.wmoran@potentialtech.com> <46621503.5030303@freebsd.org> <20070603043301.28d9bef2@localhost> <20070603055243.GB63366@demeter.hydra> In-Reply-To: <20070603055243.GB63366@demeter.hydra> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: Re: BSD derivatives X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 03 Jun 2007 06:15:34 -0000 Chad Perrin wrote: > I'm not saying that's what the OpenBSD project does. I'm just saying > that, for instance, the availability of the ath driver contradicts a > claim that security is a top priority of the FreeBSD project. Only if > it was installed and operational by default would that really be the > case. > > Obviously, I'm assuming it's not installed by default. From what I've > read so far, it's not -- please correct me if I'm wrong. > > Actually to set the record straight, the ath driver is installed by default in 6.2 RELEASE. Installed by default meaning the card is recognized during FreeBSD setup and the user is able to configure it immediately from sysinstall. The ath driver was also present in 6.1 RELEASE (and maybe earlier?) although it had to be manually activated as a kernel module and it was not immediately obvious it was supported since it was not present in sysinstall during setup. Although the whole security issue is of course highly debatable, don't forget how much more secure FreeBSD (or other open source OSes) are compared to proprietary systems. I've been (and still am) a competent Windows 200X server admin for years and have seen oh so many holes. Mind you, most of them actually get exploited. It is nowhere near this in FreeBSD.