And Now, Something Completely Different

If you’ve been reading this column over the past several months, you know that it’s surveyed a number of different Linux distributions in its ongoing quest to find open source desktop nirvana. The penguins we’ve seen include Fedora, SuSE, and any number of Debians.

This month, though, we’re going to get jiggy with everyone’s favorite new open source operating system… Solaris x86!

(I can just hear the publisher calling my voicemail now, saying in his best Mr. Spacely voice, “Unix? We don’t need no stinking Unix! This is LINUX Magazine!L-I-N-U-X! PERLOW, YOU’RE FIRED! ” But… But.… Mr Spacely, haven’t you heard?

Sun has started to release Solaris as open source, providing it for free to anyone who wants to use it for non-commercial purposes…)

That’s right people, Solaris is free. And just to clarify so that the GNUbies don’t get their panties in a bunch, that’s “free” with a lowercase “f,” as in free beer, not capital “F,” as in “Free” and released under a license compliant with the GNU Public License (GPL).

So why Solaris? Why should you bother with it? For starters, Solaris can run Linux ELF binaries natively via its JANUS technology. Solaris 10 is also a very high performance operating system, and because it’s based on the Unix System V kernel, its proven and rock solid. And while it pains me to say this, Solaris 10 is far more scalable than the…

Not Yet a Member? Register with LinuxMagazine.com and get free access to the entire archive, including: Hands-on Content White Papers Community Features And more.

Already a Member? Log in! Username Password Remember me Forgotten your password? Forgotten your username?

1. Claws Mail: Mail with Attitude
2. IE8 vs. Firefox: Four Things Firefox Could Learn from IE
3. Vimperator: Use Firefox the Vim Way
4. Customize Chrome for Better Browsing
5. Jetpack Gearing Up for Production: Look Out Chrome?