

Why Oracle wants Solaris - silkodyssey
http://www.forbes.com/2009/06/15/solaris-oracle-sun-technology-cio-network-solaris.html

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grandalf
Some requests for Oracle:

\- switch to apt for package management.

\- bundle standard gnu tools, etc. by default and drop the old solaris ones.

\- release the entire solaris codebase and intellectual property too the open
source world.

Why would any business want to risk its future on an old, dying operating
system for a few percent better performance in niche workloads?

~~~
bensummers
Have you tried OpenSolaris? Open Source for almost everything, GNU tools
(which were always in Solaris) in the PATH by default. New apt-like packaging,
which integrates with ZFS for trivial rollbacks of back upgrades. Etc etc etc.

Of course, it would be nice to have some of this in Solaris 10, but they're
trying to keep it nice and compatible. Changing the packaging system would be
a bit radical.

I run my startup on Solaris 10. While performance on multi-core systems is
significantly better than alternatives, it's features like ZFS, Zones and
integration with the hardware which really make it a compelling OS.

That said, there's a huge pain barrier to getting started, mainly due to the
ancient packaging system and lack of pre-built packages. OpenSolaris does
improve things greatly, but does need more software ports to make it truly
mainstream.

~~~
moe
I think there's no real demand for (Open)Solaris anymore.

ZFS is the only remaining solaris-feature with mass-appeal. For most people
that's not enough to justify coping with the pains of maintaining a second
platform. The hardware integration is NIL, linux runs pretty much everything
now. Zones is called OpenVZ for the rest of us.

I know quite a few admins who swear on xfires for the metal. None of them
keeps the OS they ship with, though.

~~~
bensummers
Not wishing to dispute your research... but perhaps you talk to people who use
Linux and I talk to people who use Solaris?

The reasons I use Solaris are that I'm uncomfortable with the Linux
development model of "unplanned latest and greatest" and the BSDs aren't so
hot on systems with lots of cores. This basically leaves Solaris.

It's definitely an OS worth looking at. Not just for the features (ZFS you
mentioned, DTrace you didn't) but for the quality engineering, and support if
you ever need it.

~~~
moe
That's why I said _I think_... ;-)

To each their own ofcourse and yes, I did forget about DTrace which would
indeed be another killer feature. But after that it gets a bit dark in the
unique features bag, or did I miss something else?

There will always be die-hard solaris fans (just like we have them for every
OS) but when we're talking about sheer mass adoption then I don't see it
entering mainstream again - unless something more significant than OpenSolaris
happens.

~~~
bensummers
I count stability and good engineering as a feature. I suppose there's nothing
which would necessarily compel anyone to adopt it, but there's a nice sense of
integration between everything. Once you've got the hang of Solaris,
everything "just works" and fits nicely together. ZFS integrates with zones
which integrate with resource caps which integrate with SMF which integrates
... etc.

I would be very surprised if OpenSolaris displaced Linux, but I suspect it'll
always have a place in the world. The BSDs are still around and healthy, and
innovating quite nicely amongst themselves. Linux seems to be a default choice
rather than something you choose to use.

I also hear some people run Windows on servers, although I can't quite believe
it myself.

