When installing OpenBSD 5.1, I got the question: Do you expect to run the X Windows System?What change does the installer make to my system if I say yes? I know what X Windows is, but I don't know why the installer wants to know if I plan to use it. Does it enable/disable X somehow based on my answer?
What does Do you expect to run the X Windows System? do when installing OpenBSD?
security;x11;openbsd
Random832's answer is the correct one but I'll give you an easier answer.The only part of a OS with direct access to the hardware is the kernel. In traditional unix systems, the X server (XFree86/Xorg) needs direct access to the graphics hardware, i.e. a userland process needs to bypass the kernel. This is a big security problem, so OpenBSD ask you for confirmation.If you answer yes, the installer change the sysctl entry (kernel configuration parameter that can be set at runtime) machdep.allowaperture=0 to machdep.allowaperture=2.The new graphic stack of xorg (KMS) will fix this problem but it's necessary to port KMS to OpenBSD.