Hello, and welcome!
Like the other BSDs, OpenBSD has its own packaging system for 3rd party applications, which is described in detail in
OpenBSD FAQ 15. Some of the history of the various porting and packaging systems used by the BSDs, with developer interviews, can be found on the NetBSD website beginning
here.
Here's the intro from the FAQ mentioned above.:
Quote:
There are a lot of third party applications available which one might want to use on an OpenBSD system. To make this software easier to install and manage, plus to help it comply with OpenBSD's policy and goals, the third party software is ported to OpenBSD. This porting effort can involve many different things. Examples are: making the software use the standard OpenBSD directory layout (e.g. configuration files go into /etc), conforming to OpenBSD's shared library specifications, making the software more secure whenever possible, etc.
The end result of the porting effort are ready-to-install binary packages. The aim of the package system is to keep track of which software gets installed, so that it may at any time be updated or removed very easily. This way, no unnecessary files are left behind, and users can keep their systems clean. The package system also helps ensure nothing is deleted by accident, causing software to stop functioning properly. Another advantage is that users rarely need to compile software from source, as packages have already been compiled and are available and ready to be used on an OpenBSD system. In minutes, a large number of packages can be fetched and installed, with everything in the right place.
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