In the 90s, commercial Unixes really still ruled the roost. Linux was getting traction, but slowly, so for big-biz use you were looking at AIX from IBM, Solaris

In the 90s, commercial Unixes really still ruled the roost. Linux was getting traction, but slowly, so for big-biz use you were looking at AIX from IBM, Solaris from Sun, HP/UX from HP, or something like it. The Sun hardware was materially better, or so I recall. It was also more attractive. I actually still have an Ultra5 on a shelf in my office that, for a time, ran Oakley's online store (which my old company built). It's still a good looking machine. Solaris, too, was widely viewed as better/more workable/easier to use than its competitors. It had more polish. If you're looking at Solaris with the latest build of Ubuntu or whatever in mind, yeah, it's gonna look neckbeardy and hokey. But that's not the world Solaris was the king of. Back then, using a commercial Unix meant you got a LOT of shit that Just Worked out of the box, and generally an easier time getting your shit running.