Solaris Archive

Sun said it will take an "aggressive" approach to opening up the source code of its core operating system. It just isn't saying when. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based network computer maker fended off questions from reporters and analysts Tuesday during a briefing centered on the major developments for Solaris 10. The enterprise platform is scheduled for a September 2004 launch date to coincide with the shipment of Sun's next generation Java Enterprise System. Update: More here.

Sun's announcement this week that it plans to make Solaris an "open-source" operating system has been met with mixed reactions from users and scepticism from open-source advocates. "I'm totally nonplussed by the announcement," said Dale Pickford, chief infrastructure officer at Ocwen Technology. Ocwen last year consolidated around 140 servers into several high-end Sun servers running Solaris - one with more than 100 processors. For smaller servers with four or fewer CPUs, Linux on Intel is suitable, Pickford said. But for systems larger than that, "the Sparc and Solaris environment really comes into its own," he said. "And once you start playing at that level anyway, you don't want to be messing with the OS." LinuxWorld has an article as well on the open sourcing of Java and Solaris.

Sun Microsystems Inc. this week is planning to give users of its Solaris operating system a sneak peek at the next version and its new file system. Among the many new features of Solaris 10, due by year's end, is the DFS (Dynamic File System)—a 128-bit system that will automate many common tasks for system administrators.

Sun Microsystems may be selling servers running Linux, but that doesn't mean it is cutting back on the evolution of Solaris. Among its plans, the company is considering offering a free, open source version of its flagship operating system, said Jonathan Schwartz, the company's recently appointed president and chief operating officer. "Maybe we'll GPL it," Schwartz said of Solaris, referring to the GNU General Public License under which the Linux operating system is distributed. "We're still looking at that."

This paper provides detailed discussion regarding the algorithm, implementation, kernel tunables, and messages you are likely to see on a system running the appropriate kernel updates.

The Solaris Operating System includes many file systems, and more are available as add-ons. Deciding which file system to apply to a particular application can be puzzling without insight into the design criteria and engineering tradeoffs that go into each product.