OpenSolaris: Your Opinions

gpatrick said:
OpenSolaris as a VirtualBox guest needs 768MB of memory which is amazing, considering that OpenBSD uses 64MB and FreeBSD can also work on 64MB.
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FreeBSD, same as NetBSD or OpenBSD can work even with 32MB RAM, but OpenSolaris also can be tweaked for 'embedded' hardware.

I have read about OpenSolaris runining on Soekris hardware with 128MB RAM, but that was without all that 'desktop experience' ;)

Its without ZFS of course, but on FreeBSD it also requires larger amount of RAM.

Check this blog for some nice recipes how to install 'small' OpenSolaris.
http://alexeremin.blogspot.com/


@Oko

Good that phoenix already post the reply, so I do not need to write this again ;)

As for OpenSolaris vs BSD difference here, 'we' use several GNU tools that will be replaced soon while OpenSolaris have whole sysutils/coreutils package under /usr/gnu/bin and even in front of PATH. They only port that to Solaris and left in the base.
 
Fud

vermaden said:
Another reason that always pushed me away from OpenSolaris:
http://forums.freebsd.org/showpost.php?p=78819&postcount=5
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FUD.

The price of codecs is rolled into the price of for-pay operating systems, like Windows and OSX. Neither do Linux distros distribute codecs, except those hosted in countries that allow it. They generally provide information on where to get such "free" codecs, with a warning that doing so may be illegal in your country. A quick google search on codecs for OpenSolaris will reveal the existence of package repos stood up for this very purpose (similar to Medibuntu). The (non)distribution of codecs is a legal issue, not a profit issue.
 
A bigger issue for me is the fact that, while the *BSDs seem to be trying to move away from the GNU userland, OpenSolaris seems to be rushing toward it. While the tools and the (Gnome) desktop seem stable, I would have preferred to have seen something a little more innovative and under a BSD, MIT/X11, or CDDL, maybe a modernized version of CDE, or a polished up e16 or e17, with the addition of some handy utilities (like maybe a wifi networking tool for laptop users). Keep the GNU ports segregated (well, they are, to a certain extent, but it would have been nice to be able to start with a GNU-free install and pick whether you want the ports or not).
 
I dont like opensolaris for 4 reasons.
1)have default gnome
2)Is like debian but solaris based (gnome-graphical file package manager etc)
3)I dont like linux or anything wants to be linux or like linux
4)I love bsd (and pure solaris but is almost impossible to have it for desktop and have everything working (cameras,lcd panels,a lot of tools like conky etc))
 
I like opensolaris for the following 4 reasons.
1)Excellent drivers for supported hardware
2)Solid network and wireless stack(see 1)
3)Great documentation
4)ZFS and friends.
 
Also i will agree with davidgurvich because maybe i don't like opensolaris but this doesn't mean that haven't some great stuff like ZFS or good hardware support
 
1)Excellent drivers for supported hardware
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Quality as everywhere else, for example Intel Q35 should be supported, but OpenSolaris 2009.06 could not boot from mine Q35 ...

2)Solid network and wireless stack(see 1)
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Have you tried using it with 3945abg?

I have tried, even (not so good working) driver on FreeBSD is far better then the one on OpenSolaris, and OpenBSD driver for that forks flawlessly ...

3)Great documentation
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Not bad but not great, but at least better then Linux ;)
 
I think OpenSolaris has very nice features that we can also enjoy see in FreeBSD these days; Container, Dtrace, ZFS, etc. And even it's own java-webserver. Luckily we have plenty of alternatives.

Currently, I don't think OpenSolaris is good enough regarding hardware support. Furthermore, now Oracle has the stocks and copyrights of SUN, there won't be much more commitment and contribution of CDDL licensed features to OpenSolaris. I'm afraid it will be all commercial for as long as it takes to realize that an actively participating community is a rich resource for the future.
 
I've been testing openindiana. It's a fork based on snv_134 and is up to snv_148 right now. There is a lot of permissions flakiness which I think is connected to the install being a clone of the live media as that disappeared as soon as I powered off (not rebooted) then booted into a new environment.

Otherwise works well but definitely requires 2GB of ram or more. Ignore the system requirements that this will work with 512mb. Systems crash and freeze with 1GB of ram and work well with 2GB.

Seems more responsive than the last version of opensolaris I tried. Still the same issue with hardware. Great drivers for supported hardware and bad or no drivers for unsupported. As an example hardware acceleration didn't work with an ATI/AMD HD4850.
 
gpatrick said:
I'd like to download Solaris 11 Express, and may do so, but their license will keep me from running it, because I'm not going to pay a minimum of $1000/year for support.
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The download is free, however, you can't get any updates unless you pay for support or wait until the next release. The repository that comes with it is extremely limited in that the stuff that's in there are the same packages that's on the CD-ROM.
 
What I had mentioned earlier- If I could get it to work. I'd let you know. That post is gone now- was and still is true.
Console drivers are missing from the express install. If you have SPARC/UltraSPARC systems, then you need a lot of standard Sun hardware including video, sound, and network cards. I had tried it a few years ago on x86 hardware and lacked the sufficient memory and a supported graphics card. No, I am not talking off of the top of my head. I've tried a few of the projects based on it; and, again, I lacked sufficient memory to run the systems.
OpenSolaris isn't dead. there are still active projects based on it. Oracle and Fujitsu are not planning on dropping the SPARC/SPARC64/UltraSPARC platform, they're improving on it. What's missing are enough people with the initiative and resources to return it to the Desktop/Workstation market. Someone had mentioned that there is no reason to fear a corporation because it is a mass of buildings, assets, and land. The statement remains true.
People are the only evil; and, in our own eyes, each one is innocent and pure. (This is a general statement to prove a point and not to pass judgment on all people.)
Again, if I get the proper equipment, I'll try it and tell you what I think of both the older and newer releases.
 
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