I think that would be useful for newbies, especially as things have gotten more complex over time. I footgunned myself more than once in 3.x by leaving out x11. Sometime in the late 3s, I finally started having big enough hard drives that I would just install all the sets and move my problems farther down the road.
-DaveP On Thu, Apr 23, 2026, at 11:23, izzy Meyer wrote: > Hello OpenBSD-ers, > > A friend of mine was installing OpenBSD for the first time, and came > upon a minor roadblock. Em didn't realize that you should really > install all system software sets unless you're looking for a whole > world of issues any sane person may not want to deal with. Part of me > wanted to say to my friend: "Read the FaQ and get stuffed!", I didn't > cos that wasn't the best idea to say to a new user. :) > > I understand if devs and any contributor feel(s) like my initial > reaction, but would it hurt to add a 1/2-line warning?: > > ... > [[LIST OF SETS]] > You probably want to install all sets if you're new here. See > https://www.openbsd.org/faq/faq4.html#FilesNeeded for more information. > Location of sets? [cd0 disk http nfs or 'done'] default > > I am flexible where this comment can be added, there's a couple places > that seem alright for different reasons. > > It might be a good idea to add this just so people are better > informed about the system in a place where they might footgun > themselves. Linking to the FaQ header could go a long way to teach the > behavior of reading docs, if not already set in stone before coming to > OpenBSD. > > Thoughts? I'm considering writing a diff if more end users than myself > are interested. > > -- > iz (she/her) > >> i like to say mundane things, >> there are too many uninteresting things >> that go unnoticed. > > izder456 (dot) neocities (dot) org
