4 ms·

OpenSolaris vs Linux

28 points by kungfudoi 17y ago

pieter 17y ago
Is it just me, or is having to download a file, run a terminal and execute 5 commands just to get flash not a sign of a 'proper desktop OS'?
- Dobbs 17y ago
  I see it as a sign of restrictions by adobe.
  - bensummers 17y ago
    There's also the 'extras' repo http://www.opensolaris.org/os/project/pkg/documents/repositories/ http://www.opensolaris.org/os/project/pkg/documents/reposito... Not entirely sure if it contains Flash, but I'm pretty sure it has Acrobat Reader. So things are coming.
- old-gregg 17y ago
  I find it sad and depressing that a buggy browser plug-in has managed to rise to a status of "OS breaker". You can't be a successful smartphone upstart without Adobe blessing these days (unless you're Apple) Even github.com brings up "plugins are missing" bar in Firefox. Github? WTF? By the way how do I disable plug-ins in FF like I had them turned off in Safari? It keeps bugging me with that annoying bar.
  - mrduncan 17y ago
    I believe GitHub only uses flash for their repo location copy button which lets you copy a repository location onto your clipboard without having to select it and then copy it manually.
    - tvon 17y ago
      Yeah, I didn't even know until I installed ClickToFlash. I don't know why they do though, maybe flash has better clipboard access than javascript..?
  - sfk 17y ago
    For Mozilla, removing or renaming libnullplugin.so worked. I haven't checked this with Firefox yet.
- rbanffy 17y ago
  Actually I find a site that requires flash is the broken part, not the OS that does not provide it by default.
eleitl 17y ago
Does it have access to 17+ kPackages, like Debian does? What about the tools duality? GNU and Solaris concepts are sufficiently different to require two set of binaries, and $PATH split-personality. Also, Sun (or Oracle) is firmly in control of kernel development. There's no community yet, nor signs of an emerging one, so there's some danger of standing in abandonware land. Apart from that I like OpenSolaris fine. However, its chiefest advantage is zfs, and btrfs should be there in 3-4 years. So the clock is ticking.
- bensummers 17y ago
  Packages: You're right, that is a weakness. However, the important stuff is there, and compiling other things is rarely a problem. OK for experienced admins, bad for newcomers. Tools: Solaris has a strong history of standards compliance, so you've got the standards based tools, and the GNU tools. Different audiences prefer different tools. GNU tools are now the defaults to cater for people coming from Linux. Sun/Oracle: Yes, this is an issue, and the uncertainty over the future worries me somewhat -- you'll note Oracle only promised to spend more developing Solaris, and OpenSolaris was not mentioned. Linux is also dependent on big corporates for development, but there is more than one, reducing risk. However, the Solaris model does result in a very clear vision of where things should go, and I personally really like the consistent and stable result - no wondering whether the new scheduler causes performance woes. I'd also add Zones as well as ZFS as it's chief advantage, as the combination is absolutely wonderful for development and testing. Also see here http://www.c0t0d0s0.org/archives/5917-The-impact-of-virtualisation.html http://www.c0t0d0s0.org/archives/5917-The-impact-of-virtuali... about the performance benefits of Zones for virtualisation.
  - eleitl 17y ago
    > OK for experienced admins, bad for newcomers. How difficult is to create Solaris packages from source? I must admit I never had the problem. > I'd also add Zones Well, Linux has VServer. > as well as ZFS I agree zfs is nice. Particularly, given L2ARC and ZIL on SSDs, with large SATA raidz2 or raidz3 behind them. However, btrfs is making the right noises. Whether they deliver on them or not is not yet known, but if they do Solaris needs quite a few more tricks up its sleeve by then. I hope Oracle doesn't drop the ball.

28 points by kungfudoi 17y ago

Is it just me, or is having to download a file, run a terminal and execute 5 commands just to get flash not a sign of a 'proper desktop OS'?

Dobbs 17y ago
I see it as a sign of restrictions by adobe.
- bensummers 17y ago
  There's also the 'extras' repo http://www.opensolaris.org/os/project/pkg/documents/repositories/ http://www.opensolaris.org/os/project/pkg/documents/reposito... Not entirely sure if it contains Flash, but I'm pretty sure it has Acrobat Reader. So things are coming.
old-gregg 17y ago
I find it sad and depressing that a buggy browser plug-in has managed to rise to a status of "OS breaker". You can't be a successful smartphone upstart without Adobe blessing these days (unless you're Apple) Even github.com brings up "plugins are missing" bar in Firefox. Github? WTF? By the way how do I disable plug-ins in FF like I had them turned off in Safari? It keeps bugging me with that annoying bar.
- mrduncan 17y ago
  I believe GitHub only uses flash for their repo location copy button which lets you copy a repository location onto your clipboard without having to select it and then copy it manually.
  - tvon 17y ago
    Yeah, I didn't even know until I installed ClickToFlash. I don't know why they do though, maybe flash has better clipboard access than javascript..?
- sfk 17y ago
  For Mozilla, removing or renaming libnullplugin.so worked. I haven't checked this with Firefox yet.
rbanffy 17y ago
Actually I find a site that requires flash is the broken part, not the OS that does not provide it by default.

eleitl 17y ago

Does it have access to 17+ kPackages, like Debian does? What about the tools duality? GNU and Solaris concepts are sufficiently different to require two set of binaries, and $PATH split-personality. Also, Sun (or Oracle) is firmly in control of kernel development. There's no community yet, nor signs of an emerging one, so there's some danger of standing in abandonware land. Apart from that I like OpenSolaris fine. However, its chiefest advantage is zfs, and btrfs should be there in 3-4 years. So the clock is ticking.

bensummers 17y ago
Packages: You're right, that is a weakness. However, the important stuff is there, and compiling other things is rarely a problem. OK for experienced admins, bad for newcomers. Tools: Solaris has a strong history of standards compliance, so you've got the standards based tools, and the GNU tools. Different audiences prefer different tools. GNU tools are now the defaults to cater for people coming from Linux. Sun/Oracle: Yes, this is an issue, and the uncertainty over the future worries me somewhat -- you'll note Oracle only promised to spend more developing Solaris, and OpenSolaris was not mentioned. Linux is also dependent on big corporates for development, but there is more than one, reducing risk. However, the Solaris model does result in a very clear vision of where things should go, and I personally really like the consistent and stable result - no wondering whether the new scheduler causes performance woes. I'd also add Zones as well as ZFS as it's chief advantage, as the combination is absolutely wonderful for development and testing. Also see here http://www.c0t0d0s0.org/archives/5917-The-impact-of-virtualisation.html http://www.c0t0d0s0.org/archives/5917-The-impact-of-virtuali... about the performance benefits of Zones for virtualisation.
- eleitl 17y ago
  > OK for experienced admins, bad for newcomers. How difficult is to create Solaris packages from source? I must admit I never had the problem. > I'd also add Zones Well, Linux has VServer. > as well as ZFS I agree zfs is nice. Particularly, given L2ARC and ZIL on SSDs, with large SATA raidz2 or raidz3 behind them. However, btrfs is making the right noises. Whether they deliver on them or not is not yet known, but if they do Solaris needs quite a few more tricks up its sleeve by then. I hope Oracle doesn't drop the ball.