After using OpenSolaris for a day, some things have really become clear to me. For one, OpenSolaris is a new system, and one that does not have all the functionality found in other Linux distributions. I won’t go as far to say that it is bad system. After using it in VirtualBox, I couldn’t resist installing it on my computer. It works rather well, but there is no available driver for my printer (which is found in Ubuntu) or drivers available for my wireless card or graphics card. The system is also a little slow, especially when loading a web page. There are also only a few over 1000 programs in the repositories, compared to the 24,000+ programs in Ubuntu’s repositories. I also could not install my printer, which is an HP Deskjet 3845 (all that is missing is an hplip package). Seeing as this is the first release, there are bound to be bugs and missing features.
OpenSolaris has a release schedule of 6 months, just like Ubuntu. This regular release schedule has often done well for distributions, such as Fedora or Ubuntu. It will be interesting to see where this system goes. One writer says OpenSolaris is what Ubuntu wants to be when it grows up. After using OpenSolaris for a day, that whole statement should be flipped around. Ubuntu, is what OpenSolaris wants to be when IT grows up. Painfully slow, missing drivers, incomplete functionality, eesh. I don’t plan on using it for a while. The writer of the article I linked to brings up a interesting point, the fact that OpenSolaris borrows a lot from Ubuntu. In my opinion, they don’t borrow enough, but it will get better, and it will be usable probably after this release or the next.
OpenSolaris has a lot of potential, but like most other systems, it will take some time for it to mature. Applications need to be included, and drivers need to be updated if OpenSolaris is to be taken seriously as a system to be used by average users.
Filed under: OpenSolaris, Sun, Ubuntu
Thanks for the write-up. Most of what I’ve seen written so far on openSolaris has definitely been mixed, but even so, I’m curious to give it a try. One question I have right off the bat: will standard Linux binaries such as those distributed by Mozilla (Firefox, Thunderbird) or Activestate (Komodo) run on an openSolaris box?
I am not sure if binaries would work, but they may. OpenSolaris has a Unix (or is it Unix?) like base, and I guess the only way to find it is to test it out, and I bugged out long before getting to testing application binaries.
[...] OpenSolaris: Nice, But Not There Yet [...]
I wasn’t aware that OpenSolaris was a LINUX distro, as opposed to a UNIX one. Not to sound smart, but isn’t that what it is?
I thought that what made all the other Linux distributions Linux was having the Linux kernel. The rest are almost all about packaging it seems.
You’re right, OpenSolaris is UNIX, or at least a UNIX-like OS. I have considered it a distribution (not Linux distribution) because much like PCBSD or *enter name of Unix distro here*, they have all been created and shipped as a software distribution. Both systems, Linux and UNIX distributions, despite the small internal differences, fundamentally work the same. They even use many of the same programs.
Besides, OpenSolaris is being targeted at desktop users. This is something that puts it in direct competition with Linux distributions, so that’s why I compared it to the available Linux distributions.
OpenSolaris is not a “Unix-like” OS, it is Unix — SVR4 based kernel (licensed from Novell) and certified against the Single Unix Specification