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Solaris 9 x86 Review
ValourX writes "Here is a review of Solaris 9 x86, 08/03 edition. Now that the single-CPU edition is free to download for non-commercial use, people will be compelled to write a Solaris CD and try it out. Read this first -- there are a lot of things you should know before you begin. You might want to check out the documentation or explore other resources like the hardware compatibility list as well."
Don't forget to check out Sun Freeware to save some time trying to compile stuff on Solaris. The Sun guys love to compile things using the Sun cc compiler, which they don't include in the normal distro. Good luck adding in new perl modules that aren't native perl to the perl that comes with Solaris.
I've never felt compelled to post anything to /. before, but this review truly didn't give the proper perspective needed to fairly judge Solaris x86.
Solaris x86 is an amazingly stable OS, and I've met many, many people who work in data centres who swear by it. Stable + secure + supported are the most important things to people who rely on mission critical applications.
Now, to clear up some of the misconceptions of this reviewer:
1. Almost any piece of open-source code will run on it after you compile it properly. Yes, you have to install GCC and change some of your path settings. Time it takes to do this: 5 minutes. You can get a binary version (for x86) of GCC from any of the sunfreeware.com mirrors.
2. This software is not meant to run with every piece of hardware out there. As this software is mainly meant for servers in the x86 world, why does it need to support a Radeon9600 card or an Audigy card?
3. The problems the reviewer was having were mostly configuration problems. Googling around will bring up web pages that show you how to set up network cards, etc.
So - while the review was written well enough, it totally failed in providing the perspective required to judge this product fairly. There is a steep learning curve required to learn Solaris, but once you learn it, its stability and usability features are well worth it.
When I saw:
The Solaris 9 binary license is not all that restrictive when compared with Microsoft's EULA, but the additional supplements end up piling on so many more restrictions that it's more or less on par with the Windows license.
I know Solaris isn't GPL'ed, but the SCSL still lets you peek at the code if you want. (http://www.sun.com/solaris/source)
One thing that CDE/Solaris is missing is a comprehensive network configuration panel; network settings still have to be set by hand in Solaris 9, unfortunately.
Try typing: smc& at the command line. Sun Management Console is a very powerful tool indeed.
The most detrimental compatibility issue that I encountered with Solaris 9 x86 was that it did not have binary compatibility with Solaris SPARC, GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, OS X, MS Windows or any other operating system.
One word Mister, lxrun. Try it.
This article really should have been written by someone who knows at least a little about Solaris. Or by someone who doesn't mind reading some documentation before writing their review. Apparently the author just expected to sit down and have the OS install itself, and then teach him how to use it.
And yes, there are security flaws in Solaris. That's why the SunAlert bulletins are your friend. That's why you need to roll out the new KJP's when they come out, make sure you keep up on your patch management etc. In other words you know, be a systems administrator and actually ADMIN your systems.
- Kate
"DNA is life. The rest is just translation."
First off, I have little Solaris admin knowledge. I run BSD and Linux myself, but I've got some experience with Solaris as a workstation and server. That said, none of your criticisms are really specific to Solaris, or even on-topic.
So first, out of date software: the current Xfree release is 4.3. If you got a complaint with 4.1, say what it is. Regardless, though, if you are running Solaris as a server, you don't give a shit what the X server is on it, and even as a workstation, it's usually used for high-end scientific applications; it doesn't need to be incredibly user friendly or run the latest games.
Second: Solaris (or at least the SunOS servers I just checked to be sure) doesn't have a /lib/modules. So as I'm pointing out right now, purely for the casual reader's benefit, you are full of shit.
Third: Back to X, eh? Nobody likes X. It sucks to configure on any system, pretty much (except maybe RedHat). If you can't handle it, you probably aren't a Solaris admin. And if looking up your monitor's horizontal sync is such a big deal, use Windows. I use the text xf86config utility whenever I install a new system, I look up my monitor's sync specs, and I'm good. Not really that hard.
Fourth: When have you ever put a USB mouse or scanner on a server? And honestly, x86 Solaris, as discussed above, is good for learning and for environments that need to be homogeneous. But most Solaris workstations run on Sparc.
Firth: You're an idiot. A few Linux distros use RPM. Solaris is not Linux. RPMs also are widely regarded as sucking.
Finally, you go way off topic and talk about Debian users switching (with a link to www.ibm.com as proof?). Right. Anyway, you're an idiot, I know I've been trolled, but I wanted to clarify some of your BS for the other readers.
sadly the reviewer had boot problems.
x86 Solaris WILL live happily with Windows and Linux and a multi-boot system is trivially possible so long as you take some care. The most obvious gotya! is the Sun disk partition id is the same as the Linux swap partition id.
x86 does NOT insist on using an entire disk. It will happily install into a suitable partition pre-created with the Sun disk partition id. During the install pseudo-partitions will be created as needed within the actual partition.
I've had triple-boot systems with Win98, Redhat Linux and Solaris all installed on the same drive.
The reviewer also had network problems. With NICs on the HCL list and many work-a-likes there should be no problems at all.
You do need to understand what you are doing when installing Solaris, and it helps to understand the network configuration it will be plugged into before you start.
On the other hand, after answering a handful of questions at the beginning, the installation itself is trivial and automatic on supported hardware.
I've been using x86 Solaris as my main desktop system for a number of years now in preference to both Windows and Linux (though I'm writing this on a RH8 box) and it does everything that I need day to day.