You say your background includes Slackware Linux but you find OpenBSD to be difficult, nigh impossible, to install correctly? I think you're being disingenuous. I too have a long history with Slackware, going back to the late 90s, and I first tried OpenBSD back in 2008. Back then, it didn't do nearly as much "out of the box" to help a new user along as it does today in 7.0. Back then the user was expected to know the proper installer URL to set up for pkg_add to work, was expected to know how to manually install closed source firmware if needed, was expected to know how to partition their drive beforehand, was expected to know how to set up and turn on WiFi, and so on. All of that information was of course in the man pages, but the user was expected to carry a lot of the responsibility of bringing up the system for the first time.
Today, the OpenBSD installer literally does all of that for you. It sets the /etc/installurl to a sane default (the OpenBSD CDN URL), it does WiFi autoconfig even if your firmware is not available yet, it has an automatic partitioning feature, and it attempts a firmware update, all before you reboot the first time. Sure, there are a few after-boot setup steps left to do, but no more so than in Slackware 15.0. Both OSes give you a command line after install, both expect you to tweak the OS to your own needs from its base configuration, and OpenBSD even helps you set up your regular user account in the installer rather than leaving you to do it afterwards as Slackware does.
Today, the OpenBSD installer literally does all of that for you. It sets the /etc/installurl to a sane default (the OpenBSD CDN URL), it does WiFi autoconfig even if your firmware is not available yet, it has an automatic partitioning feature, and it attempts a firmware update, all before you reboot the first time. Sure, there are a few after-boot setup steps left to do, but no more so than in Slackware 15.0. Both OSes give you a command line after install, both expect you to tweak the OS to your own needs from its base configuration, and OpenBSD even helps you set up your regular user account in the installer rather than leaving you to do it afterwards as Slackware does.