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Solaris 8 & 9 Free for x86 Once Again

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the one-more-os-to-cram-onto-your-box dept.

REBloomfield writes "The Register is reporting that after nearly two years, Solaris x86 8 & 9 is once again Free (as in beer) to download for x86 users." You can download it if you desire. Gives me college flashbacks.

33 of 411 comments (clear)

  1. Now I have a reason to switch... by trp642 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wow that's cheaper than buying a Linux license from SCO! I'm switching to Solaris right away!

    Now if only they would GPL the code to Solaris...

    1. Re:Now I have a reason to switch... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Darl, is that you?

    2. Re:Now I have a reason to switch... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
      Think that's bad? How about /usr/bin/true:
      #!/usr/bin/sh
      # Copyright (c) 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 AT&T
      # All Rights Reserved

      # THIS IS UNPUBLISHED PROPRIETARY SOURCE CODE OF AT&T
      # The copyright notice above does not evidence any
      # actual or intended publication of such source code.

      #ident "@(#)true.sh 1.6 93/01/11 SMI" /* SVr4.0 1.4 */
      The entire script is just a copyright notice
    3. Re:Now I have a reason to switch... by greed · · Score: 5, Funny

      Also note:

      - It consumes an extra process slot by doing command followed by exit (rather than exec command). This also prevents a program from finding abnormal termination status from the command (i.e., signalled instead of exited).
      - It hides any error messages from the user.
      - It does not handle an argument with spaces or other Weird Characters in them.

      Pretty bad, 3 errors for 2 lines of code. No wonder they want to keep it confidential.

    4. Re:Now I have a reason to switch... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      No wonder it's Microsoft's code...

    5. Re:Now I have a reason to switch... by i.r.id10t · · Score: 2, Funny

      Good news is that you can still download the 126.3mb service pack 14 for it from their website.

      --
      Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
    6. Re:Now I have a reason to switch... by SpaceLifeForm · · Score: 4, Funny
      Hmmm, revision 1.6 with only *four* obvious changes can only lead one to conclude that one of the revisions was to correct a bug.

      Using the code from 'false', we should be able to reverse engineer the code in violation of the DMCA, and determine what the bug was.

      --
      You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.
    7. Re:Now I have a reason to switch... by aled · · Score: 4, Funny

      In fact by publishing it you are violating the DMCA or something. And made all us readers too! Thanks a lot!

      --

      "I think this line is mostly filler"
    8. Re:Now I have a reason to switch... by fractaloon · · Score: 5, Funny

      Wait a second! They own the copyrights to nothing? Does that mean if I'm sitting at my cube doing nothing I'm infringing on their work?

      I'm sure there must be prior art to this. Someone somewhere must have done nothing before 1984 and documented it.

    9. Re:Now I have a reason to switch... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      I'm sure there must be prior art to this. Someone somewhere must have done nothing before 1984 and documented it.

      But once you've documented doing nothing you've done something and thus you can't use it.

    10. Re:Now I have a reason to switch... by Haeleth · · Score: 2, Funny
      Does that mean if I'm sitting at my cube doing nothing I'm infringing on their work?
      Fortunately 'true' doesn't just do nothing, it does nothing successfully. So you're only infringing if your boss doesn't mind.
  2. Free is nice by fsandford · · Score: 1, Funny

    Free is the best price I can think of.

    1. Re:Free is nice by sik0fewl · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well, I think it would be even better if Sun *paid* me to use Solaris. I mean free is greater, but this would definitely be greater.

      --
      I remember when legal used to mean lawful, now it means some kind of loophole. - Leo Kessler
  3. The deal closer by OffTheLip · · Score: 3, Funny

    Solaris 8/9 and CDE, what could be better...

  4. What about PPC users? by Carthag · · Score: 3, Funny

    Solaris x86 8 & 9 is once again Free (as in beer) to download for x86 users.

    Can we download the x86 version for free? ;)

  5. Step right up... by CatOne · · Score: 4, Funny

    To the Scott McNealy "Strategy of the Month" club!

    Wonder how long this will last, before they have a change of heart.

    I have a buddy who worked there in product management for their app server. They had like 30 middleware products that all had the same message, and the VP printed out the statements, passed them out, and asked the PMs to identify their products by the message. They couldn't do it, because it was all the same sh!t. Heh.

  6. So what? by mac+os+ken · · Score: 1, Funny

    CowboyNeal X for x86 has been free forever and doesn't get any coverage. I remember the first time I did that hefty install of 1.23mb from a double sided DVD. Ahh... memories...

    --
    .deviatefromtheabsolute.
  7. SCO Anyone? by segment · · Score: 3, Funny

    Oh Parodies gotta love them... I smell a lawsuit

    --
    MoFscker
  8. Whats new? by hackstraw · · Score: 3, Funny

    So Sun is changing their mind about the cost of a product. Whats next, Sun offering an AMD processor with Linux?

    These people are getting really wierd.

  9. ARGH by ozzmosis · · Score: 4, Funny

    Argh! and i just paid 20$ for it on tuesday!

    Be sure to read the hardware requirments!!

  10. Where is this free beer you speak of? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    (Better college flashback)

  11. Re:Solaris v.s FreeBSD by chefmonkey · · Score: 4, Funny
    Yeah, Solaris got a bad rap for speed. Having played around with both Linux and Solaris on x86 and Sparc chips, though, I offer you the following observations:

    Solaris x86: Fast
    Solaris Sparc: Slow
    Linux x86: Fast
    Linux Sparc: Slow

    A casual examination shows that the problem is the dog-slow processor that you usually find Solaris on, not the OS itself.

  12. You know, that's just great! by mcc · · Score: 4, Funny

    Why, just the other day I was looking at my x86 debian box and thinking, "You know, it's so great how on my mac and on the school's sparc machines, I can never get binaries for anything, it's a BITCH AND A HALF to compile anything, and half the time I can't get stuff to work. Debian doesn't offer anything like that. I sure do wish there was some way I could get that Darwin/Solaris sort of experience on my PC!"

    And now here this is! My prayers answered! Yahoo!

    [ DISCLAIMER: The above is humor. In reality, my x86 box is running Gentoo, which means that I can never get binaries for anything, it's a bitch and a half to install anything, and half the time I can't get stuff to work. ]

    --
    Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
  13. I dunno which is scarier.... by ericdano · · Score: 4, Funny

    I dunno which is scarier, Taco posting twice or that he went to college......

    --
    It's either on the beat or off the beat, it's that easy.
    I moderate therefore I rule!
    --
  14. College Flashbacks by cyber_rigger · · Score: 4, Funny

    My collage flashbacks are more along the line of punched cards.

  15. Fiddling on the Roof by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Sun rise, Sun set; Sun rise, Sun set...

  16. "UNPUBLISHED PROPRIETARY SOURCE CODE" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Not any more....

  17. Ah, College... by pimpinmonk · · Score: 3, Funny
    Gives me college flashbacks.
    Are you sure you didn't just crack your back?
  18. A word to the wise for Linux / Irix users by Stonent1 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Don't issue a killall command on Solaris. You won't like what it does. :)

    1. Re:A word to the wise for Linux / Irix users by Walterk · · Score: 2, Funny

      Use pkill instead.

      --

      "If anyone needs me, I'm in the angry dome."
  19. So, let me get this right. . by MrLinuxHead · · Score: 4, Funny

    SUN shows a Linux Distro (Java Desktop) and sells it for $100 per seat (per year). China and England check it out and may buy in. Sun responds by GIVING AWAY Solaris 8 and 9 for free?

    --
    I may be bad with names, but I'll never forget your IP address
  20. Re:Hot and Cold by aled · · Score: 2, Funny

    atwh do uyo anme ?

    --

    "I think this line is mostly filler"
  21. Re:Solaris v.s FreeBSD by Walterk · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's got to do with user experience. Linux is gearing to having a fast and responsive user experience, but Solaris is geared to getting more work done.

    --

    "If anyone needs me, I'm in the angry dome."