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Solaris 10 Released, Updated & Free (Like Speech)

Sivar writes "Ace's Hardware and news.com.com.com report Solaris that 10 has been released. Improvements include a performance-enhanced TCP-IP stack to shed the "Slowaris" moniker and their much-vaunted ZFS (Z File System). Solaris will initially be "free" (as in beer with an annual subscription fee for bug fixes and support), and will reportedly be released under an open-source license later." As well, KingSkippus writes "MSNBC reports, "After investing roughly $500 million and spending years of development time on its next-generation operating system, Sun Microsystems Inc. on Monday will announce an aggressive price for the software -- free. Sun also has promised make the underlying code of Solaris available under an open-source license, though the details have not been released." An article at Computerworld also has the story from Jonathan Schwartz, Sun's president and chief operating officer."

16 of 363 comments (clear)

  1. Woot! by superpixel2000 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Can't wait to cram it into my iBook ;-)

    --
    did you win a free ipod? build a case for it here
  2. Gentoo, Fedora and now Solaris by digid · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is it me or has slashdot named today as National Upgrade Day?

    1. Re:Gentoo, Fedora and now Solaris by djcapelis · · Score: 3, Funny

      For gentoo users, everyday is National Upgrade Day!

      (MODS: If you don't get this... you don't use portage or you don't sync once a day.)

      --
      I touch computers in naughty places
    2. Re:Gentoo, Fedora and now Solaris by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Does that mean that Windows users upgrade their viruses today?

    3. Re:Gentoo, Fedora and now Solaris by KilobyteKnight · · Score: 5, Funny
      no, microsoft hasn't released anything today.

      But I'm sure some virus writers have released a few updates for Windows.

      (Oh, stop your groaning, you were thinking it)
      --
      When will Windows be ready for the desktop?
  3. probably better than... by zegebbers · · Score: 5, Funny

    being free (as in without)

  4. Solaris is great! by Sai+Babu · · Score: 5, Funny


    In spite of:
    Start jumbo patch download.
    Head off to the bar.
    Come home, pass out, wake up after noon

    Check download, yee harrr almost done.
    Have dinner
    Check download, YES, start patch.
    Leave for Cancun vacation.
    (three weeks later) back from Cancun
    Patch almost complete, clean gutters, mow lawn, wash car.
    Ahhhh, now we're ready to rock and roll...

    Maybe it's time to retire the SS2. You think?
    Damn thing just keeps on ticking!

  5. It will be accepted in the mainstream by eclectro · · Score: 1, Funny

    When it earns the GNU/Solaris moniker.

    --
    Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
  6. Free as in what?? by Jugalator · · Score: 1, Funny
    Solaris 10 Released, Updated & Free (Like Speech)

    ...

    Solaris will initially be "free" (as in beer with an annual subscription fee for bug fixes and support)


    Hmm...

    "As in beer with an annual subscription fee?"

    Hm... OK...

    Free speech = drinking beer with an annual subscription fee for support? Yeah, I guess that works in a geeky kind of way. He might speak pretty freely after having lots of beer, and on each New Year's Eve pay some guys to show up at his home to support him in software development. :-P

    --
    Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
    1. Re:Free as in what?? by njcoder · · Score: 2, Funny
      See.. people talk about free as in beer and don't get it. The beer is free but that doesn't mean you don't pay for something.

      Increased water charges for all the extra flushes.

      That new play station game you bought your friend so he won't show pics of that fugly girl you hooked up with.

      cab fare, can't drive drunk.

      gym membership, atkins book and a lot of meat and cheese to lose the beer belly

      vodka, to numb the pain in the liver

      and more...

      There's no such thing as a free lunch or a free beer.

  7. Free Kevin! by faqmaster · · Score: 1, Funny

    So Kevin Mitnick was just ahead of his time when he liberated the Sun source code? If I remember right, they claimed then that the source was worth over 80 million dollars. Free Kevin!

    --
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  8. Solaris 10 Stability by Xargle · · Score: 5, Funny

    From the launch site...

    Day 6: Did you know that Big Ben actually refers to the thirteen ton bell inside, named after Sir Benjamin Hall? The clock keeps excellent time and rarely stops -- much like Solaris 10, which offers new features aimed at increasing system availability and reducing unplanned downtime.

    This is a bit dodgy on both counts... from British Embassy website:

    At first, the bell was to be called "Victoria," in honour of the Queen. However, "Big Ben" was the name that came to be used. At the time that the bell was built, there were two well known men named Ben. One was a champion boxer -- Benjamin Caunt. The second Ben was Sir Benjamin Hall, a Member of Parliament who, as Commissioner of Public Works, had a great deal to do with the clock tower and the bells. His name was on the side of the first bell that had cracked. Either of these two men could have inspired the nickname "Big Ben," but no one is really sure which it was!

    Slight omission aside, the analogy for stability is pretty invalid given Big Ben broke almost immediately after being struck for the first time and was recast. The new bell (in use today) has a large crack in it, again from early in its use, which was filled in and the bell rotated so the clapper wouldn't strike the weak point. The clock itself is also regularly weighted with pennies to keep it accurate. Plus because of the crack the bell is out of tune.

    If solaris 10 is like this I'm not touching it :)

    1. Re:Solaris 10 Stability by MikeBabcock · · Score: 2, Funny

      And you can be sure that Sun will require more than pennies to be dropped on Solaris to keep it stable :-)

      --
      - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
  9. Re:Previous Versions... by byolinux · · Score: 3, Funny

    There's a spac version? Explains a lot!

  10. Re:Failed economy? by arglesnaf · · Score: 1, Funny

    vi is best
    I almost bought your argument until I saw your sig.

  11. Best quote ever! (On ZFS at least) by 3770 · · Score: 3, Funny


    There was an interview with someone from Sun and he was asked if he thought that 128 bits (the address space of ZFS) was enough and he answered (paraphrasing):

    We are pretty comfortable with that. We could not store that much information on an earthbound media without boiling the oceans.

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