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[API Proposal]: Add OSPlatform.OpenBSD and OperatingSystem.IsOpenBSD APIs #129482
Description
Background and motivation
Code targeting OpenBSD currently rely on OSPlatform.Create("OPENBSD") stringly API. These workarounds lack compile-time safety and feature-parity with other operating systems.
While System.Private.CoreLib already utilizes an internal IsOpenBSD() check, it remains inaccessible to external libraries, NuGet packages, and application code.
Adding public OSPlatform.OpenBSD and OperatingSystem.IsOpenBSD{VersionAtLeast} APIs delivers:
- Dead-Code Elimination: Allows NativeAOT and Mono LLVM compilers to trim unsupported code branches at build time.
- Versioned Guarding: Safely isolates OS-specific system calls across OpenBSD releases.
- API Symmetry: Replaces custom string matching with optimized platform checks consistent with FreeBSD.
API Proposal
namespace System.Runtime.InteropServices
{
public readonly partial struct OSPlatform
{
public static OSPlatform OpenBSD { get; }
}
}
namespace System
{
public static partial class OperatingSystem
{
public static bool IsOpenBSD();
public static bool IsOpenBSDVersionAtLeast(int major, int minor = 0, int build = 0, int revision = 0);
}
}API Usage
using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
// 1. Guarding platform-specific features using OperatingSystem
if (OperatingSystem.IsOpenBSD())
{
Console.WriteLine("Running natively on OpenBSD.");
// Check for specific version constraints (e.g., OpenBSD 7.4+)
if (OperatingSystem.IsOpenBSDVersionAtLeast(7, 4))
{
// Invoke modern OpenBSD-specific system calls or APIs
}
}
// 2. Passing the OS platform token to generic runtime dispatch APIs
if (RuntimeInformation.IsOSPlatform(OSPlatform.OpenBSD))
{
Console.WriteLine("OSPlatform validation successful.");
}Alternative Designs
- Rely on existing workarounds: Developers can continue using
OSPlatform.Create("OPENBSD")or parsingRuntimeInformation.OSDescription. This is not ideal as it creates runtime string allocation overhead, lacks compile-time safety, and prevents build-time dead-code elimination by the compiler. - Keep APIs internal: Maintain the status quo where
IsOpenBSD()remains an internal helper insideSystem.Private.CoreLib. This forces external library authors and NuGet package maintainers to duplicate brittle, less efficient platform-detection logic across the ecosystem.
Risks
Low (new API)
Reacted by Seth Jackson
Activity
dotnet-policy-service commentedon Jun 16, 2026
Tagging subscribers to this area: @dotnet/interop-contrib
See info in area-owners.md if you want to be subscribed.
am11 commentedon Jun 16, 2026
cc @sethjackson, @wfurt, similar to #23530, related to #124911.
bartonjs commentedon Sep 8, 2026
Video
Add & use OperatingSystem.IsOpenBSD,VersionAtLeast (#133441)