OpenBSD vs FreeBSD

[Robert Hettinga]

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Resent-Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1998 11:43:47 -0500
To: 0xdeadbeef at substance.abuse.blackdown.org
Subject: OpenBSD vs FreeBSD
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1998 11:47:08 -0500
From: glen mccready <glen at qnx.com>
Resent-From: 0xdeadbeef at substance.abuse.blackdown.org
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Forwarded-by: Nev Dull <nev at bostic.com>
Forwarded-by: Satya Palani <satya at gho.st>

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Date: Sun, 6 Dec 1998 20:44:53 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Watson <robert at cyrus.watson.org>
Subject: Re: OpenBSD vs FreeBSD


On 5 Dec 1998, Julian Assange wrote:

>> 	Do you really expect people here, on this list to say
>> 	"Use OpenBSD" or "Use Linux" or etc?
>
> `Use NetBSD'

Use a toaster oven.  Toaster ovens have excellent network security
characteristics.  For example, they are not susceptible to any IMAP-based
buffer overflow attacks; additionally, current toaster ovens are not known
to have any bugs in their TCP/IP stacks, nor have been vulnerable to any
in the recent past (according to CERT advisories, anyway).  Toaster ovens
require console access to perform administrative functions (such as
modification of temperature settings), but this will not impede deployment
in a number of environment.

Toaster ovens may be vulnerable to a remote denial of service attack
involving manipulation of power lines -- however, most operating systems
running on standard hardware are also vulnerable to this attack.

I have found that my toaster oven has served me well for a number of
years, and produces excellent grilled cheese sandwiches, which is far
better than my pentium running FreeBSD, largely because the cooling fan
on the pentium does too good a job.  Go figure.  Maybe if I get a pentium
pro?  Neither my FreeBSD box nor my toaster oven has suffered from a
security problem in a while.

  Robert N Watson

robert at fledge.watson.org              http://www.watson.org/~robert/
PGP key fingerprint: 03 01 DD 8E 15 67 48 73  25 6D 10 FC EC 68 C1 1C

Carnegie Mellon University            http://www.cmu.edu/
TIS Labs at Network Associates, Inc.  http://www.tis.com/
SafePort Network Services             http://www.safeport.com/

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Date: Sun, 6 Dec 1998 21:44:36 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Watson <robert at cyrus.watson.org>
Subject: Re: OpenBSD vs FreeBSD


On Sun, 6 Dec 1998, Robert Watson wrote:

> Use a toaster oven.  Toaster ovens have excellent network security
> characteristics.  For example, they are not susceptible to any IMAP-based
> buffer overflow attacks; additionally, current toaster ovens are not known

A friend of mine points out that toaster ovens are susceptible to a buffer
overflow involving pieces of bread exceeding the safe bread limit in the
oven, which can result in a fire, or at the very least, a lot of burnt
bread.  As such, I am no longer planning to deploy toaster ovens as web
servers on our network.

Apologies for any misleading details concerning the reliability of toaster
ovens in hostile environments -- I hope no one has made purchasing
decisions based on this misinformation!

  Robert N Watson

robert at fledge.watson.org              http://www.watson.org/~robert/
PGP key fingerprint: 03 01 DD 8E 15 67 48 73  25 6D 10 FC EC 68 C1 1C

Carnegie Mellon University            http://www.cmu.edu/
TIS Labs at Network Associates, Inc.  http://www.tis.com/
SafePort Network Services             http://www.safeport.com/

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-----------------
Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at philodox.com>
Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'