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I'm going to go on a small tangent here and ask: Solaris ... desktop?? I've been using Linux on the desktop for quite some time now, and couldn't be happier. H

I'm going to go on a small tangent here and ask: Solaris ... desktop?? I've been using Linux on the desktop for quite some time now, and couldn't be happier. However I come to realize, after trying to "convert" a lot of people around me, Unix isn't made for the "desktop" (understand, unfortunately, Windows-clone). I also use Solaris (10, not 11m but still) at work. All the time. And if Linux isn't that great on the desktop, Solaris is a catastrophe. I'm not being very convincing, as the points I'm mentionning would take a whole blog post to prove. My question here is the following: If this article is on the Oracle website, could it mean that the people at Redwood are trying to be more agressive on the desktop market? Or are they simply using Linus' name to attract traffic?

chao- 15y ago
I'm with you on the "attract traffic" point, and if the goal was actually trying to push Solaris as a desktop experience, I'm equally confused. More likely is that someone (or several someones) put a good bit of thought and time into this nifty feature, and simply would like to maximize the visibility of their achievement. And as a regular Linux desktop user I must admit that one of the remaining rough edges (couldn't think of a better term) in the desktop experience of some distros is precisely what Linus is referenced as railing against.
bdunbar 15y ago
And if Linux isn't that great on the desktop, Solaris is a catastrophe. Eh. I worked for a (small) company where Solaris was -the- desktop OS. Windows only made inroads because some clients required we do CAD work on tools that were Windows only. It wasn't so bad. As a sysadmin ... I kind of miss it.
gaius 15y ago
You know, Sun Microsystems stock ticker was SUNW... The W was for Workstation.
- freehunter 15y ago
  Yeah, but workstation and desktop are not exactly the same. Back when SUNW went public (1986), that distinction may not have been as defined. It makes sense to run Unix on a workstation (workstation defined as a high performance machine meant for a specific productivity use case). It doesn't make sense to run it on a desktop (desktop defined as a general purpose PC your family would use at home).
binarycrusader 15y ago
This article is not "on the Oracle website" it is on the Oracle *employee blog website". This is an engineer at Oracle expressing his personal opinion about technology. Note the disclaimer at the bottom: The views expressed on this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Oracle.
jopython2 15y ago
Solaris 11 currently does not run on any of the Solaris workstations (e.g blades).

chao- 15y ago

I'm with you on the "attract traffic" point, and if the goal was actually trying to push Solaris as a desktop experience, I'm equally confused. More likely is that someone (or several someones) put a good bit of thought and time into this nifty feature, and simply would like to maximize the visibility of their achievement. And as a regular Linux desktop user I must admit that one of the remaining rough edges (couldn't think of a better term) in the desktop experience of some distros is precisely what Linus is referenced as railing against.

bdunbar 15y ago

And if Linux isn't that great on the desktop, Solaris is a catastrophe. Eh. I worked for a (small) company where Solaris was -the- desktop OS. Windows only made inroads because some clients required we do CAD work on tools that were Windows only. It wasn't so bad. As a sysadmin ... I kind of miss it.

gaius 15y ago

You know, Sun Microsystems stock ticker was SUNW... The W was for Workstation.

freehunter 15y ago
Yeah, but workstation and desktop are not exactly the same. Back when SUNW went public (1986), that distinction may not have been as defined. It makes sense to run Unix on a workstation (workstation defined as a high performance machine meant for a specific productivity use case). It doesn't make sense to run it on a desktop (desktop defined as a general purpose PC your family would use at home).

binarycrusader 15y ago

This article is not "on the Oracle website" it is on the Oracle *employee blog website". This is an engineer at Oracle expressing his personal opinion about technology. Note the disclaimer at the bottom: The views expressed on this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Oracle.

jopython2 15y ago

Solaris 11 currently does not run on any of the Solaris workstations (e.g blades).