Solaris vs Linux
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| nullroute Sep 27, 2005 12:13 PM EDT |
Why should I use Linux (amd64) over Solaris 10 (amd64) ? |
| phsolide Sep 27, 2005 12:17 PM EDT |
Better diagnostics and diagnostic tools under Linux. It's that simple. Solaris just doesn't give you the tuning and performance info that Linux does. Solaris has a /proc filesystem, but it doesn't have the useful information that Linux' does. Secondarily, Linux has more up-to-date versions of stuff like "date", "ls", and "ps". For instance, you can do ISO-8601 date format with linux "date", and you can't with Solaris. Tertiarily, user mode linux (or something like it) might give you a better way to put some programs and users in a sandbox. Not much like it under Solaris. |
| cjcox Sep 27, 2005 12:22 PM EDT |
Well.. I too would favor Linux, but Solaris 10 is a step in the right direction for Sun. With Solaris 10 you now have a choice of a Gnome desktop or CDE for example (thought there are some bugs in the Gnome side). The amount of software that is already packaged for GNU/Linux is much larger than for Solaris 10. Almost nobody really supports Solaris 10 unless you're prepared to write a few zeroes on a check (cheque). Something to remember. Give it a try. If it does everything you're looking for.. Solaris 10 might be a good fit. But unlike most of GNU/Linux.. Solaris 10 is not truly free. |
| tadelste Sep 27, 2005 12:33 PM EDT |
My information comes from Sun people: First the JDS Linux team and secondly, the OpenSolaris team of which I once belonged. Solaris 10 x86 won't be up to the level of Linux - feature wise - for twenty four months. Some of the developers have problems with the license which would have allowed them to get up to GNU/Linux level faster than they have. Solaris 10 x86 requires more bandaides, chewing gum, pieces of wire hangers and rubber bands than Linux. Sun actually abandoned Solaris x86 and decided to go with Linux but IBM helped Novell buy SuSE and that caused Sun to look around and see what they had. Sol x86 was and is an after-thought. |
| cjcox Sep 27, 2005 3:35 PM EDT |
My take... Solaris x86 was in motion (and shipping) way before JDS (of course I'm talking about Solaris x86 III Return of the Java Knights of Ni... if anyone is keeping count). Solaris x86 isn't an after thought. It's just the 3rd time for Sun and the "promise" (again) to not destroy it (again). There was never any plan that I know of to dump Solaris x86 for Linux (that doesn't mean that somebody at Sun was under that impression.. Sun was a big company). Linux was simply a stop gap measure to satisfy a need until JDS was fully ported to Solaris (both x86/AMD and SPARC). Sun wanted to be able to sell their platform across the board... including Linux. Made sense to sell folks their own flavor of that as well. AFAIK, the plan was always to get JDS on Solaris (especially Solaris SPARC... which is still considered to be their flagship). If selling Linux meant a Sun+Java logo inside... it was worth it. As far as I can tell.. things that happened as a result of the Novell acquisition were that the new version of SUSE Enterprise Desktop released as the Novell Desktop and thus Sun had to use enterprise SLES (available to Sun because it was still the simple SUSE brand... created before the acquisition) to construct JDSv3... something that was very difficult since SLES is not really designed for the desktop. If you remember the testing versions of JDSv3, it was obvious that it was SLES9, whereas the JDSv2 certainly came from SUSE Desktop 1.0 (a SLES8 variant designed for desktop use). I don't disagree that Solaris requires a bit more baby sitting configuration wise. There are certainly some things even in Solaris 10 that make you wonder, "Why didn't they fix that?" But in general, Solaris 10 is a significant step forward from Solaris 9 (IMHO). It's the first time I've seen a whole lot of changes in Solaris since the very early 2.x days (and then it was mostly huge bug fixes). With that said, Solaris still lacks good management tools (but better in 10 now) and so it is more like administering a Linux platform in the 1.1 kernel days. But shoot... administering some Linux distributions can be a real pain. It's not that far off from Red Hat for example. |
| tadelste Sep 27, 2005 6:05 PM EDT |
cjcox: The people with whom I interfaced at Sun were in charge of the JDS and OpenSolaris projects. I don't think they were just someone at Sun. Sam and I wrote a book about JDS and had access to the top executives and spoke to them frequently. But, whatever you say... |
| cjcox Sep 27, 2005 6:32 PM EDT |
You can look it up. x86 Solaris 8 was definitely shipping long before JDS was even a consideration at Sun. I'm not sure why they lied to you. I know that for a fact. We have to port to Solaris x86. Prior to that you go back to Solaris 2.4 which had an x86 version... and then back to Solaris 2.1. |
| tadelste Sep 27, 2005 7:04 PM EDT |
I think we're on different neuron pathways. I had those versions and developed Trade Client on them. Quote: September 9, 2002 (The month that Curtis started the "Madhatter" JDS project started at Sun). http://www.serverwatch.com/news/article.php/1458931 A battle is brewing between Sun Microsystems (Quote, Chart) and some of its longtime customers. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based networking giant's January decision not to support Intel's x86 architecture in its Solaris 9 server operating environment is being met with criticism from a group of loyalists under the banner of "Save-Solaris-x86.ORG." The debate erupted Wednesday after the group sent off a missive Scott McNealy blasting the CEO and the company for what it calls a "broken promise and a betrayal." "For your long-time customers (hardware and software), it is disconcerting that Sun would discontinue any product without following its traditional procedure of giving at least one version notice in an official end-of-life notice," the group vented in its letter to Sun. Save-Solaris-x86 spokesperson John Groenveld said he and others were shocked after being reassured by Sun as late as this fall that there would indeed be a Solaris 9 for x86 and after the widely publicized Solaris 9 beta for SPARC (Sun's 32-bit chip architecture) and x86. |
| r_a_trip Nov 29, 2005 9:09 AM EDT |
Why should I use Linux (amd64) over Solaris 10 (amd64) ? You shouldn't have to use anything over something else. It ultimately is your OWN choice of what to run. If you are attracted ideologically, technically, instinctively towards Solaris, don't bother with mucking about in GNU/Linux. It's not what you want. If on the otherhand, you are not quite sure of which one you want to use. Try both of them and see which is more to your liking. Either way, whatever you are going to use, it will be the right decision. GNU/Linux is about happy users. If GNU/Linux doesn't make you happy, it isn't a crime to use something else. Besides, both are *Nix anyways... |
| tuxchick Nov 29, 2005 9:46 AM EDT |
I think most Solaris10 users are going to be Solaris admins who are already experienced with it. I'm long past the "try every new thing" stage, and just want to get some work done. But for someone who is interested in testing things, free of cost is very pleasant indeed. |
| tadelste Nov 29, 2005 10:01 AM EDT |
I know veterans of WWII who refuse to ride in German automobiles and some that will not ride in Japanese automobiles. I know a writer who won't use anything Sun. Some things just leave a bad taste in your mouth. I was on that OpenSolaris team at the start. The guy that started it left and went to work for Amazon last week. Why? I don't know about him, but they openly declared war on Linux. They lie about it. The community manager recruited me and said he wanted my help in getting the team to respect Linux. So, I did what I could. But, I tell you - he couldn't control them and no one can. They want to kill Linux worse than Microsoft does. They hate Linux. But they want to use the cool toys like GRUB. If you want to use their product so ahead. I won't ride in your car. |
| tuxchick Nov 29, 2005 10:09 AM EDT |
Tom, I think you can rest assured that as much as Sun wants to be big, bad, and evil just like Microsoft, they're nowhere near competent enough to pull it off. No matter how much their spokesmodels badmouth Linux, it's not going to have any appreciable effect, except to make them look like dingalings. What do you think of McNeely's performance as CEO? How does he keep his job? To my laypeople eyeballs, there is no strategy or direction, just floundering and flailing. They have lost most of their best people, though they still have a lot of great talent down in the trenches. To me it looks like the executive suite is where they need a shakeup. |
| tadelste Nov 29, 2005 10:12 AM EDT |
I agree with everything except the great talent in the trenches. They have all gone too. |
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