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OpenSolaris Dead?

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Steltek

Steltek

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2001
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Given the fact that Oracle just sued Google over Java, I don't think I'd invest in building something around an Oracle product.

Sounds like Oracle plans to become the next big patent troll.
 
Nothinman

Nothinman

Elite Member
Sep 14, 2001
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http://wyang0.blogspot.com/2010/08/future-of-opensolaris.html

Looks like Oracle is putting their boot on it's throat, not that I'm too broken up about it. =)

Seems like the only choices are to follow Oracle's code releases and be perpetually behind, fork what they have and create their own separate OS or to focus on FreeBSD since ZFS has already been ported there.

But in any case it does look like OpenSolaris is effectively dead.
 
lxskllr

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
60,091
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ViRGE said:
Is the BSD ZFS implementation any good? I keep hearing bad things about it.
Click to expand...

I just read a thread at Ars talking a bit about that. It seems it works well on 64bit hardware, with lots of ram, but it can get flaky using small ram amounts. I don't think it was ever cleared up whether that was a ZFS issue, or a FreeBSD issue.
 
Nothinman

Nothinman

Elite Member
Sep 14, 2001
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lxskllr said:
I just read a thread at Ars talking a bit about that. It seems it works well on 64bit hardware, with lots of ram, but it can get flaky using small ram amounts. I don't think it was ever cleared up whether that was a ZFS issue, or a FreeBSD issue.
Click to expand...

That thread's where I stole that link from and what I got from it was that the problem was most likely with the FreeBSD kernel since ZFS has less issues on 32-bit Solaris.

But with Oracle owning Solaris now, FreeBSD seems to be the only free way for ZFS to live.
 
VinDSL

VinDSL

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2006
4,869
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Nothinman said:
[...] with Oracle owning Solaris now, FreeBSD seems to be the only free way for ZFS to live.
Click to expand...
Sorry for parsing your post, but I suppose it depends on the meaning of "free way".

I just downloaded the "free-of-charge", "time-unlimited version", of NexentaStor 3.x.

The license only allows 12 terabytes (TB) of used space. LoL!

Looks, walks, and quakes, like free ZFS to me... :awe:
 
sourceninja

sourceninja

Diamond Member
Mar 8, 2005
8,805
65
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VinDSL said:
Sorry for parsing your post, but I suppose it depends on the meaning of "free way".

I just downloaded the "free-of-charge", "time-unlimited version", of NexentaStor 3.x.

The license only allows 12 terabytes (TB) of used space. LoL!

Looks, walks, and quakes, like free ZFS to me... :awe:
Click to expand...

My fear is that if they start making any money Oracle will sue them into oblivion. See google as a reference point.
 
Nothinman

Nothinman

Elite Member
Sep 14, 2001
30,672
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VinDSL said:
Sorry for parsing your post, but I suppose it depends on the meaning of "free way".

I just downloaded the "free-of-charge", "time-unlimited version", of NexentaStor 3.x.

The license only allows 12 terabytes (TB) of used space. LoL!

Looks, walks, and quakes, like free ZFS to me... :awe:
Click to expand...

And that product will most likely die or be horribly stagnant now that Oracle's not maintaining the OpenSolaris public code repo.
 
VinDSL

VinDSL

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2006
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Nothinman said:
And that product will most likely die or be horribly stagnant now that Oracle's not maintaining the OpenSolaris public code repo.
Click to expand...
Not really...

  • Sun begot Solaris
  • Solaris begot OpenSolaris
  • Oracle begot Sun
  • Nexenta begot NexentaStor

Nexenta will beget Illumos, son of OpenSolaris, and... that will complete the ring!

Thus, it matters not if Oracle maintains OpenSolaris.

Illumos will be the completion of OpenSolaris, and Nexenta will develop NexentaStor.

If you'll pardon the pun, am I not the only oracle that sees this? :awe:
 
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Nothinman

Nothinman

Elite Member
Sep 14, 2001
30,672
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VinDSL said:
Not really...

  • Sun begot Solaris
  • Solaris begot OpenSolaris
  • Oracle begot Sun
  • Nexenta begot NexentaStor

Nexenta will beget Illumos, son of OpenSolaris, and... that will complete the ring!

Thus, it matters not if Oracle maintains OpenSolaris.

Illumos will be the completion of OpenSolaris, and Nexenta will develop NexentaStor.

If you'll pardon the pun, am I not the only oracle that sees this? :awe:
Click to expand...

IIRC Nextenta was already in a grey area because they're linking GPL'd code (i.e. dpkg) against a CDDL library (OpenSolaris' libc) which I don't think is legal.

And it does matter if Oracle keeps the OpenSolaris source open because if not, Illumos (man what a shitty name...) will get out of sync and eventually become incompatible with it meaning it'll just be yet another unix-like OS. And hopefully it'll fall into obscurity fairly quickly...
 
VinDSL

VinDSL

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2006
4,869
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I think D'Amore has hatched a beautiful plot!

Basically, Oracle has two options:

  1. Sh!t
  2. Get off the pot.

It's the American Way!

Anyway, OpenSolaris will be around, in whatever form. It's NOT dead, by any means...
 
Schadenfroh

Schadenfroh

Elite Member
Mar 8, 2003
38,416
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So, from what I have read, Oracle is going to be releasing (assuming free) builds of the next-gen Solaris periodically in a similar fashion to the Solaris Express builds of old?
 
Nothinman

Nothinman

Elite Member
Sep 14, 2001
30,672
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Schadenfroh said:
So, from what I have read, Oracle is going to be releasing (assuming free) builds of the next-gen Solaris periodically in a similar fashion to the Solaris Express builds of old?
Click to expand...

After binary releases in a half-hearted attempt to not look like total dicks.
 
VinDSL

VinDSL

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2006
4,869
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www.lenon.com
Nothinman said:
http://mail.opensolaris.org/pipermail/ogb-discuss/2010-August/008012.html

And it's just a little bit more dead now...
Click to expand...
All Hail... :cool:

OpenIndiana

OpenIndiana is a continuation of the OpenSolaris operating system. It was conceived during the period of uncertainty following the Oracle takeover of Sun Microsystems, after several months passed with no binary updates made available to the public. The formation proved timely, as Oracle discontinued OpenSolaris soon after in favour of Solaris 11 Express, a binary distribution with a more closed development model to début later this year. OpenIndiana is part of the Illumos Foundation, and provides a true open-source community alternative to Solaris 11 and Solaris 11 Express, with an open development model and full community participation.
Click to expand...
 
lxskllr

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
60,091
10,562
126
VinDSL said:
What ppl should be worried about is the future status of OpenOffice. ;)
Click to expand...

That point hasn't escaped me. Do you know how hard it would be for independent development to continue if Oracle dropped support? I wonder if someone else, Canonical? could pick up the torch. It seems like an obvious fit to me.

Edit:
spelling
 
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Nothinman

Nothinman

Elite Member
Sep 14, 2001
30,672
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lxskllr said:
That point hasn't escaped me. Do you know how hard it would be for independent development to continue if Oracle dropped support? I wonder if someone else, Canonical? could pick up the torch. It seems like an obvious fit to me.

Edit:
spelling
Click to expand...

Yea, I'm sure either them or RedHat would.
 
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