Re: Is Sun sincere about encouraging new Solaris users?

Shannon Jacobs wrote:
The DVD version of Solaris is not an option because the target machine is somewhat older and does not have a DVD drive. It's basically my primary scratch monkey.

However, from reviewing the entire discussion, it seems pretty clear that the answer to my original question is "No, Sun is not sincere about encouraging new Solaris users."

I regard that as unfortunate. In spite of the personal ad hominem attacks mixed into the thread, I think I do appreciate a good OS as well as or better than most folks. Heaven knows I've suffered with enough bad ones over the years. However, I also appreciate Larry's three virtues. Or perhaps I should simply state that I am not a masochist looking for fresh forms of pain. The evidence is pretty clear, both from Sun's website and this discussion, that Sun is indifferent or even hostile towards new users.

Sun's decision not to encourage new Solaris users is obviously reasonable in some ways. One obvious example is that less sophisticated users will be looking for more help in comparison to more technically sophisticated people. However, I do think it unfortunate that Microsoft's position has become so strong that no one is even willing and able to seriously enter the field of battle. They could have waited 10 more years before waltzing out Vista and it probably wouldn't have made any difference--but I'm still going to do my best to never own a Vista machine (though of course I expect to be inflicted with them at work).

On Jan 29, 11:56 pm, "Canuck57" <dave-no_s...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"Shannon Jacobs" <Shannon.Jacobs.nos...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in messagenews:1170029933.754010.232600@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

At this point, I think not. Or is Solaris really such a piece of
bloatware that Sun is unable to condense it to a single installation
CD?Solaris has more in it's distribution than does distros like Ubuntu.
Why not download the DVD version of Solaris? It is one burn.

Me, I installed at least 20 systems this weekend and didn't burn a single
DVD nor a CD. I just powered up VMWare on my portable, pointed it to a
Solaris DVD ISO image, installed it. Then setup DHCP and install server and
booted other systems from it. Once I had one each of Intel and Sparc
installed, I tailored the images and made flash archives. The rest of it
was easy... Can't do that with Microsoft or Ubuntu's native distribution
without buying something else like ghost.

Yes, I run Unbuntu too. It is very good as an entry level stand alone Linux
workstation. Solaris targets a different breed.
<older snip>

I have stayed out f this so far, but I believe that my situation is a bit like yours. I run Solaris at home on an old PC. I use it for my primary desktop machine. While I have administered a number of machines at work using Solaris in the past, and have developed on them, I no longer due this (I am retired on disability). I agree that Solaris is not the easiest OS to set up for desktop use. It has great features for commercial installs, saving time for the n+1 machines. The first takes some time. I found a DVD burner for about $25 at the local computer shop and put that in. It was worth it. Each time there is a release of Solaris (2-3 per year?) I burn the new DVD.

I do think that Sun could end up with a lot more customers if they put more work into the desktop. The installation takes quite a bit more work that other systems, Microsoft included. You end up spending a lot of time setting up software to handle shared printers for example. It took me a couple of days to get my new HP 1020 up under my CUPS installation, as with about 30 seconds on my wifes XP box. The OS is better as far as bullet proof execution (no reboots), and uses quite a bit fewer resources. However, the amount of desktop software for the casual user is quite limited. If more attention was given to the desktop, then it would be simpler to replace Microsoft machines with Solaris. This would aid in the growth both of home users and business users. If you could move users to Solaris without making them give up functionality than it would be quite a bit easier to move to a full Sun shop, and get rid of both the Microsoft desktops as well as the servers. This would help Sun sell more servers. With the enormous requirements of Vista, this would be a great time for Sun to move in this direction. If they could get more PC hardware working (and I believe that most PCs used in a commercial setting probably already meet most if not all of the Solaris x86 hardware requirements) a case could be made to move to Solaris as a cost-saving activity.

The problem is that Sun has given little thought to the desktop. Programs like the DVD player don't work (on my box at least). There is no way to view Microsoft Windows Media Player files from sites like CNN. Software for Income Tax, Checking, iTunes, and other popular desktop functions is non-existent, clunky, or very expensive. If Sun could get past this, and make installation and maintenance easier for the casual user, I believe that they could greatly increase the penetration for Solaris.

--
Gary Meerschaert
Madison Heights, MI

Don't give up on your dreams.
Wait a bit and they'll give up on you
and you can start again without all of that guilt.

Gary.meerschaert@xxxxxxxxx
.

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