Dead Software Walking: The ongoing evolution of relayd(8) and httpd(8)
A software developer discusses the revitalization of OpenBSD's relayd and httpd daemons, driven by personal professional needs and the emergence of LLMs. The author highlights how AI tools have motivated them to return to low-level C programming after years of focusing on high-level architecture.
Why it matters
It illustrates the growing trend of developers using AI as a productivity and learning tool to maintain legacy open-source infrastructure.
loading Like Author Rafael Sadowski Shut up and hack Table of Contents Start with WHY Discipline beats motivation Achievements in httpd(8) and relayd(8) relayd(8) Modernization and Code Quality Security Improvements Bug Fixes and Stability New Features httpd(8) Modernization and Code Quality Security Improvements Bug Fixes and Stability New Features Table of Contents Start with WHY Discipline beats motivation Achievements in httpd(8) and relayd(8) relayd(8) Modernization and Code Quality Security Improvements Bug Fixes and Stability New Features httpd(8) Modernization and Code Quality Security Improvements Bug Fixes and Stability New Features Start with WHY # As I mentioned in my OpenBSD 7.8 highlights post, development of relayd(8) and httpd(8) had stalled. Many diffs appeared on the tech@ mailing list from different contributors, but few were committed into the repository. The main reason was simple: Established OpenBSD developers weren't interested in these daemons anymore. Call it momentum, or timing.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in