Good:
- Small, comprehensible system
- Emphasis on simplicity
- Developers good about getting OpenBSD working on newer architectures e.g. Apple M1/M2
- pf
Bad:
- Very security forward but userspace and kernel almost exclusively in C
- Many security mitigations have questionable value but most certainly make the system a bit less flexible e.g. raw syscalls only via libc
- No journaled filesystem in 2026
- Still uses CVS in 2026
- System feels a bit slow and not yet fully tuned for multicore (improving gradually though)
- Community a bit insular and does not feel very welcoming (you may disagree)
TL;DR - I'm not a fan. Linux for maximum features and performance. FreeBSD when you want to use a BSD. Why FreeBSD ? See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47322710