Re: build OpenBSD on Linux

[dereck <dereckhaskins@yahoo.com>]

>>I'd also suggest that there are a lot of really skilled programmers
>>at MS.  It's just that marketing it between them and the door to
>>freedom.

I think you are right with this, Chuck.  Everything that I've read and
heard suggests that there _are_ some damn good people at MS.  And there
is a lot of BS that stands between some good ideas and the door at the
place. 

However, I think security is no longer the "stepchild" there.  It will
be interesting to see if they CAN do the work necessary to lock down
their product line.  Anyone who has seen the effort needed to refactor a
large product has to know what they are up against.  Lucky for them
their pockets are nearly infinitely deep - they'll need the best people
to close the loopholes.  I also wonder how much of the famed "backward
compatibility" that Windows will continue to display.  This is the real
"feather in the cap" of Microsoft IMO - many of the Win95 programs my
wife owns run WITHOUT A HITCH on a brand spanking new XP Pro machine. 
No kernel problems, no re-compilations.  Just load and run - very
impressive.  These are first-generation Win32 binaries going on ten
years old.  While the simple problem with backward compatibility is
never ending on Linux.  (Of course Linux 'heads never feel this - they
seem to reimage ~ 6 times per year by my count. :-))

Of course, given the history of OBSD the quality of the main people on
that OS isn't in question.  The complete security overall on OBSD has
been complete for some time :-).  And unlike the "distros" the BSDs take
responsibility for the whole OS. _THAT_ is the feather in the cap IMO
for BSD.  No copouts with "...just a kernel...."

cheers,
dereck