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Solaris 8 & 9 Free for x86 Once Again
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.
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...
Worth reading the hardware compatibility list before installing
Rus
Cheap UK and US VPS
Any info against what least common denominator the binaries are compiled for ? 386 , 486, pentium ?
for the last time people, I am "frodo from middle eaRTH", not "middle eaST".
Solaris 8/9 and CDE, what could be better...
Blowing that is.
... ... (wait for it, it took a while) ... Oh, yes it is, actually....
:-)
I know large companies have multiple objectives, sometimes competing, but does it seem to anyone else that Sun isn't *that* large... You can't port Java. You can port Java. Linux is dead. Our new desktop is Linux (oh, +Java). Solaris x86 is not free
I guess there are Sun-only places where this might be a big deal. I'm also guessing that they're in a minority, so what does Sun see in it all ? It must be a reasonably large cost to maintain another OS for a company, so there has to be an upside... Answers on a postcard, please
Simon.
Simon.
Physicists get Hadrons!
SUN -- are you doing Solaris or are you doing Linux? Is the Java Desktop going to migrate from Linux to being Solaris-based? Why not do SUNBSD while you're at it?
At the end of the day, I'm sure I'm asking what most of their investors probably are too -- SUN, where are you going with all of this?
Solaris x86 8 & 9 is once again Free (as in beer) to download for x86 users.
Can we download the x86 version for free? ;)
Sun makes enough from licensing Solaris to big SPARC machines (that it makes) and that Solaris is originally supposed to run on. It's kind of like baiting penguins with processed tuna fish... when the penguins already know that there's fresh fish a lot more readily accessible. Some of the penguins might play with it, but they won't eat it religiously.
That was an awesome analogy. I rule.
- A
I ran some benchmarks 2 years ago on the same x86 hardware, and you could make them perform about the same. I expected "slowlaris" to be, well, slow. But it kept pace. One thing I really miss on FreeBSD that Solaris has is the "iowait" state. You can see right away in top if the CPU or disk is the bottleneck...
Depends on what is it you are using it for.
We have Solaris here at GTech GVU on both Sparc and IA. But we use Sparc here for a lot of graphics because while the SPARC and the Intel architecture have roughly the same performance on most integer operations, SPARC is better at floating point operations (don't remember the numbers - 30% I think).
I guess the overall performance would really depend on other things like your intent.
There's not really any good metrics given the differences in platforms. IIRC though, Solaris runs much better on sparc, but x86 hardware is *MUCH* faster than any sparc you can get these days, and is still cheaper.
That said, sun hardware is generally rock solid, and getting solaris x86 working is a PITA.
re: performance between solaris x86 and other free alternatives:
The performance gains [which IIRC there aren't any for most circumstances] aren't worth the compatability losses. For most people, solaris x86 is just a good way to learn the differences between BSD/linux and Solaris for when you get to a job with larger SPARC machines.
Although Solaris is currently ahead of Linux for multi-processor/64 bit computing, it will not be when Linux 2.6 gets into propper production. Obviously SUN is trying to deploy Solaris as much as possible, and to make it as scaleable as possible, in an attempt to stay one ahead of Linux. It is destinned to fail here, there is just too much resource going into linux now. Solaris is destinned to become a legacy OS. A better stratergy for SUN would be to provide an upgrade path of Solaris to Linux, and to ride the wave, not fight it.
Web Sig: Eddy Currents
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.
You must have:
Free disk space: 4.0 GBytes to Install Solaris 9 OS; 5.0 GBytes to Install Java Enterprise System Software
Recordable CD-ROM drive: To create CDs using the downloaded zipped files
Recordable CDs: Blank 750 recordable or rewriteable CDs, one needed for each CD image downloaded
CD labels: Required under license agreement
CD writing application: Use cdrecord for Solaris or Easy CD Creator for Windows is recommended
Download Manager: Sun Download Manager (Free version) runs on most platforms (see System Requirements for details)
Unzip application: WinZip recommended for Microsoft Windows (or use Sun Download Manager's automatic unzip feature)
you also need to "register" on sun's website. so it's as free as the NY times articles online. too bad there isn't a google cache of solaris 9
Oh Parodies gotta love them... I smell a lawsuit
MoFscker
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.
Argh! and i just paid 20$ for it on tuesday!
Be sure to read the hardware requirments!!
I needed a Solaris on Intel for a project. Tried to fight it but to no avail..
So I called the reseller and wanted to order a licence. Won't go into detail on how long it took them to get a pricetag for it.. think weeks.
I checked out their website and saw I could download it for 20$ online, but i would still need a license.
So I waited almost 2 months for it. When it arrived, I got a big box filled up with that annoying shock absorbing stuff and a piece of paper which were the license, but no CDs or anything just a big empty box.
So I called Sun and got tossed around in their phone system and they managed to hang up on me 3 times. The fourth time I managed to get through to a hotline or something and I was told that Solaris for Intel was free. "oh" I said, "your reseller has just sold me a license for 500$"... oh well
"Now how do I get the software?", I was then told that I could order it or download it from their site for 20$. Damn I didn't want to do that online ordering since I had to use my own creditcard and didn't want to go though the paperwork to get a refund for 20$ from the company, but after waiting almost 2 months now I needed the software and bought a download ticket.
This was my first expirence with Sun and hopefully my last. I would have expected a better service and that they would at least act like they were interested in selling something. Other people in the company have after all bought their SunFire 12k boxes for other projects.
It is clear that Solaris on Intel has little or no focus at Sun which also shows when trying to install it. It is easier to find hardware to install FreeBSD or any other BSD on than Solaris. And installing any Linux dist. is a breeze compared to Solaris. I'd say you really gotta LOVE Solaris if you want to run other than the Sparc version on Sun hardware.
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.
I've run across several free Sparcs, including an Ultra 2 that a friend's company was throwing away. It looks as though I can download Solaris for it for free now too! I thought about running Linux on it, but I'm not sure what the point would be since it would be slower than the x86s I've got around.
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
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!
--
My collage flashbacks are more along the line of punched cards.
If the word on the street is to be believed, Solaris 10 x86 will include support for AMD64 (Opteron et. al.). This is rumored to be targeted at a Q1-Q2 '04 release date (i.e. reasonably soon). It is true that some of the linux vendors/distributions are working on amd64 ports, but Solaris has been running on 64 bit cpus for years and years, so there are far, FAR fewer little "oops, you mean an int isn't four bytes????" bugs laying around to get tripped up on (I speak mainly in reference to userland here, given that it will go through a commericial QA process from a large vendor I'm not that worried about issues with the kernel itself ;)).
;)
Not that your average web or file server will need to care about 64bit anything, but it'll be nice for those of us running big databases or scientific/engineering codes.
Overall, what's the difference in flavor between Linux and Solaris? Not a lot, really. Solaris does "feel" much more integrated (man pages that don't suck, for example.) Now, you can throw that straight out the window if you insist on things like GNU utilities and such, but it's hardly Sun's fault if you don't like the 1970s versions of tar or vi or want a C compiler for free.
News for Geeks in Austin, TX
Putting aside the source code issue, one of SCO's complaints is that IBM has released "UNIX technology" for free (as in beer) and this has undercut SCO's profit margins from UNIX. This is in addition to SCO's complaints over copyright infringement and trade secrets being leaked (both of which are on shaky factual and legal grounds). SCO mentions their eroding market share and their lost profits multiple times in their submissions.
But now Sun is releasing the very same "UNIX technology" for free (as in beer). So what's the difference?
SCO might say that the difference is one of trade secrets. But end-users can't be held liable for trade secrets leaked by IBM.
SCO might say that the difference is one of improper contribution: Sun has a license to put "UNIX technology" into Solaris, and IBM has a license to put "UNIX technology" into AIX, but IBM doesn't have a license to put "UNIX technology" into Linux. But that's an argument that still needs to be decided in court (plus the facts and the law are heavily against SCO).
But in terms of eroding SCO's market share, Free Solaris/x86 is exactly the same as Free Linux. There is no difference. Both products are superior to UnixWare and both are available at no appreciable cost.
So I'd like to see how SCO reacts to this. If they don't complain then what they're realling saying is that they don't mind their core product (UnixWare) being undercut by a far superior UNIX (Solaris/x86). What they really care about is that the product killing their market is Linux. And that's suspicious. Why should they only care that it's Linux?
Don't issue a killall command on Solaris. You won't like what it does. :)
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
The Solaris kernel, in particular, is a technological marvel and is one of the leading development platforms for new ideas in OS and Kernel development.
The Solaris system, as well, is very well thought out.
So if by chance you wind up with an UltraSparc or x86 box setup with Solaris, and with all your hardware functional, then you have a superb system.
However, getting to that stage without resorting to disk imaging is hard. Solaris has probably one of the worst installation routines - its even less stable (and functionally useful) than Microsoft's windows setup, which already speaks volumes. The design is horrible - from the key binding, to the (or lack thereof of) menu option, to the very unflexible installation, to the stalls and crashes along the way. Mind you, even if you did successfully manage to "install" it, it certainly will require a lot of your attention to make all your hardware work - certainly not turnkey.
As a person who bought four x86 Solaris 9 licenses, along with CDs, DVDs (StarOffice too!!), I was sort of disappointed in my fruitless methods of installing SOlaris successfully. Hardware support is definitely a little scanty (but I can't blame that on Sun since they tailor their OS to UltraSparcs which they produce, not to PCs). Installing Solaris on a spare Ppro box is definitely one of my Christmas holidays projects.