I've never seriously used any BSD, but I do have to admit I like that things don't change for the sake of change, as seems to happen on Linux every couple of years. With OpenBSD, docs from 10 years ago are generally workable, because nothing on the user side has changed. That's got some definite benefits. I've been using Linux as my primary OS for 20 years, as of this year (which is, coincidentally about as long as OpenBSD has been around), and I don't feel significantly more "on top of" the OS than I did 10 or even 15 years ago. On many fronts, I'm further behind, because I have so much less free time, and there's so much more to a Linux system. And, <i>so much</i> has changed.<p>That said, there's a bunch of trade-offs. Virtualization on OpenBSD is, as far as I can tell, effectively a non-starter for any major project (i.e. those with many VMs, a virtual network, virtual disks, etc.). Containers seem to not exist, at all, though I found some historic mentions of jail-based options.<p>It <i>seems</i> like a perfect candidate for a VM or container guest OS, due to security focus, small size, simple deployment, etc. But, you then have to have two sets of skills: Managing your guest operating system, and managing your host operating system. Since Linux is the strongest container or VM hosting OS on the server (this was once debatable when Solaris Zones was new and Linux was still somewhat immature on the container front, but I don't think anyone would make the case that Linux isn't the obvious choice for hosting VMs or containers in most deployments today), and Linux is pretty far away from OpenBSD, you've got two pretty widely divergent skill sets needed.<p>Nonetheless, every time I read about OpenBSD, I feel a strong urge to give it a try. It seems extremely elegant in the way old UNIX systems were elegant. It appeals to me on a lot of fronts. Also, the code and documentation are extremely readable, in ways I've rarely seen elsewhere (FreeBSD also meets this description, but it's so much bigger it can still be daunting).<p>I wonder if anyone is working on a Zones port to any BSD? OpenBSD with a convincing container or virtualization story would be a tipping point for me, in terms of being willing to put in the effort to learn it and use it.