Nexenta alpha 7 has been released. “OpenSolaris & NWS build 61 (non-debug); installer: new partitioning wizard, installer log (via F3), usability fixes, built-in driver availability detection; improved SVR4 compatibility (pkgadd, pkgrm, etc.); improved live upgrade – it is believed to work for all previously released alphas.”
Solaris is by no means great OS but it suffered a lot because of lack of good package/ports management system.
Nexenta is a great way into solving that problem with Debian repository and with Gnome as a default Desktop Environment quite good alternative to Ubuntu Linux.
Someone also should think about creating a NetBSD pkgsrc.org or similar source based ports system.
Why does this myth persist?
Solaris has a package management system: http://www.blastwave.org
pkgsrc already runs on Solaris.
Everytime I see a story like this posted people always say the same thing.
I guess the “myth” persists because that isn’t really integrated with the OS.
Sure it is. Download the pkg and off you go.
Except you can’t just install ON with whatever blastwave packages you want. pkgsrc also assumes the Sun stuff is there. I spent a good amount of time hacking pkgsrc to get a basic fluxbox desktop on SchilliX, so I would know.
“Solaris has a package management system: http://www.blastwave.org“
WOW! 1200 packages avialable, compare this to almost 17000 in FreeBSD and You will know why I am complaining.
“pkgsrc already runs on Solaris.”
As well as many other operating systems, but it is not as polished on Solaris as it should be.
“Why does this myth persist?”
Because it is not a myth?
“Everytime I see a story like this posted people always say the same thing.”
It should make You think WHY they are always saying the same thing.
People don´t give a sh_t about 17000 packages if only 300 are of interest for them.
17000 packages means that 16000 MIGHT be irreleant for most people.
So if there is only 1200 packages available for blastwave, that might be the 1200 most used or important packages as well.
Why the hell complain about everything that is not Linux or BSD.
Blastwave isn’t even comparable to a package management system out there.
>Everytime I see a story like this posted people always say the same thing.
Sun is aware of the problem, many of it’s users aren’t.
Blastwave is a huge improvement over the default Solaris packaging, but it isn’t nearly as sophisticated, polished or well maintained as Debuntu.
If you haven’t spent some time with dpkg+apt+etc over a couple years of upgrades and patches, you have no idea how much time you are wasting.
> Everytime I see a story like this posted people always say the same thing.
Yeah, I know that you do. But you are wrong. Solaris sucks in package management and that is true. Blastwave is not part of official distribution. What people are talking about is generic system tool, such as apt or Synaptic or URPMI or whatever, that is built into system. One tool to apply security updates, external repositories, private modified packages etc. Solaris is in point of time where they use term “patches”… That is not GNU way of doing things, and people like GNU way.
SUSE has patches too, and so do other distributions. There is no “GNU” way of doing package management. In fact, if I’m not mistaken none of the package managers have anything to do with the FSF or GNU at all.
another ubuntu ripoff.
sheeeeeeeeet!
The prior release was on October 17th, so it’s nice to see that there’s still life to be acknowledged in respect to this project.
Personally I like the idea of a ‘desktop capable’ Open Solaris distribution as an alternative to especially desktop Linux – just as PC BSD is a desktop BSD – providing true freedom of choice amongst open source OSs for the desktop!
Whilst Linux is great, open source is not necessarily Linux. So please bring out the different flavors of open source genius for people to taste and enjoy!
Oh yes, because a desktop user cares a great deal about the underlying unix kernel that happens to be used in his particular system.
Come on people, they all run the same software, they have the same (basic) features, the same (basic) hardware support (provided you know where to look, in the case of Solaris)…
Really what this does is provide exactly the same open source Operating System as is available in any Gnu/Linux system, only the kernel has changed. Gnu/Linux vs. *BSD, yes, that’s a “choice” in that one uses GPL system tools and the other doesn’t, but even then the tools have 99% the same functionality, so that isn’t a “choice” either… but this isn’t even that much of a “choice” since they don’t even use the original solaris world-tools.
That’s seriously the dumbest thing I’ve ever read, and given how old I am that is saying something.
Now, when Haiku, React-OS, et al are finished… then there will be a “real choice in oss OSs”… but this particular one just gives you Ubuntu all over agian.
Yeah yeah, I know, I know, saying something is stupid makes people mod me as troll but I really don’t give two-halves of a rotten squirrel, people need to think before they say things!
It’s like saying “Ubuntu and Kubuntu! Wow, finally some real choice!”
>Now, when Haiku, React-OS, et al are finished… then >there will be a “real choice in oss OSs”… but this >particular one just gives you Ubuntu all over agian.
Will they be ever fihished? I don’t think so. On the other hand Solaris is matured system. And it is not “only” Ubuntu on Solaris kernel, I think, but it has got all the features that Linux does not have (ZFS, DTrace, Zones). And kernel itself – it is not a cosmetic change, it is completely different software that is heart of your system. It is a choice.
OK so you might have a point when it comes to what gets downloaded for personal use, and even then there should be no ‘Linux monopoly’ to fight… Open source is all about freedom of choice, and if you ‘choose not to choose’ that’s still a choice…
I might very well want to make use of ZFS at home, but unless I want to play around with different attempts to port this to other platforms, Solaris is the way to go! That coupled with the fact that in addition to Solaris, I might very well want to run an up to date installation of GNOME – Nexenta IS the way to go in such cases…
To me, that makes the wish for Nexenta to exist alongside FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, Linux and the others quite legitimate…
I read your arguments so that we might as well get rid of the *BSDs and others that are not Linux (since they’re all just different kernels) as Linux is the most dominant open source OS out there, scrap the freedom of choice since it’s all about the license and not about the technology…
But what about the many, many different Linux distributions out there? -Are they just a waste of time?
ubuntu article. oh christ!
Nexenta is definetly something to look out for. I dont particularly like the solaris userspace, however i do like gnu’s. A combination is a very neat thing for me.
The gnu stuff resides (in a standard install) in /usr/sfw/bin. Add it to your PATh and off you go.
Slightly off topic, but driver for Solaris/Opensolaris for this wireless card has been released/integrated into build 64. Details here:
http://www.opensolaris.org/os/community/laptop/wireless/wpi/
Including install details for builds prior to 64 — Alpha 7 of Nextenta uses Build 61.
Nexenta is interesting but it’s quickly falling behind. The packages are already out-of-date and has been at 95 open bugs for months now.
Very little is happening towards reaching the magic beta and stable releases. I think the beta is estimated to be two years late (it says five months late but that meter has been reset several times).
If you set aside the fact that Nexenta uses the SunOS kernel, Nexenta is really just a alpha test release of Ubuntu Dapper Drake.
But according to the impression I get reading comments on OpenSolaris lists, Nexenta along with BeleniX is the one to check out OpenSolaris as they have the latest features.
Maybe Nexenta focuses more on the kernel which is OpenSolaris, rather than the packages on top.
http://www.osgeek.blogspot.com
But according to the impression I get reading comments on OpenSolaris lists, Nexenta along with BeleniX is the one to check out OpenSolaris as they have the latest features.Maybe Nexenta focuses more on the kernel which is OpenSolaris, rather than the packages on top.
Yeah.
I don’t know anything about BeleniX but Nexenta is fairly good at keeping up to date with ON (kernel/etc) but that is only so important. Providing patched or updated packages also means protection from security holes in the software.
I think Nexenta’s situation becomes understandable when you see the situation from a objective point of view. There is certainly a shortage of developers interested in Nexenta and a lack of additional funding (from donations, sponsors, etc). I think the two might go hand-in-hand.
Anyway, I’m going to try Solaris Express soon. It has updated packages IIRC. I’m just waiting for the next version so that that my notebook Serial ATA controller and Intel 945GM graphics controller DRI (2/3D hardware acceleration) are supported.
I’m gonna look into Solaris Trusted Extention too.