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OpenSolaris 2008.11

January 14, 2009

This article was contributed by Ivan Jelic

Sun is continuing to make new steps forward toward a free Unix-like community by presenting and developing a new version of its desktop flavored operating system. OpenSolaris 2008.11, released in early December, enables some of the popular features available in mainstream GNU/Linux distributions: like live CD install, automatic network configuration and a user-friendly package manager, in combination with well known Solaris advantages like ZFS and DTrace.

Probably the biggest issue for an average GNU/Linux user who wants to start using OpenSolaris is the installation. Fortunately, OpenSolaris managed to overcome this potential problem by providing a Live CD image which can be installed to hard drive, simplifying the scary traditional Solaris text mode installation process. After a live CD is booted, and the OpenSolaris desktop appears, double click the INSTALL icon to start the installation GUI.

The first few steps into the installation in the "next, next" manner requires minimal input from the user with the traditional accent on partitioning and partition selection. Partition selection might be a tricky point since the installer does not show any of OpenSolaris' partition nomenclature. This leaves partition size and filesystem as the only attributes for recognition. Compared to the layout in Debian's Gparted, partition order remains the same, but maximum attention is necessary if OpenSolaris is to be installed to the hard drive while preserving data in other partitions. The system is installable only to primary partitions.

The OpenSolaris team managed to improve visual identity in the new release with characteristic artwork during all phases of system startup, together with the login screen and desktop themes. The system takes a bit longer to boot than most popular GNU/Linux distributions, but the difference is small. The default (and only) desktop is GNOME 2.24.

From the perspective of a GNU/Linux GNOME user, OpenSolaris will look familiar. Applications shipped in this release by default won't cover all the needs of average desktop user, mainly because graphics editing and office programs are absent. Internet and multimedia (if we consider only free codecs and formats) are managed a lot better, allowing the user to maintain the most common needs in those areas.

Noticeable differences in GNOME are directly related to one of OpenSolaris' killer features - ZFS snapshots. A closer look at the Nautilus toolbar reveals icons which show how this great system capability can be brought to desktop users. The time slider integrates ZFS snapshots into the file browser allowing users to exercise this functionality by moving the slider to the desired point in the timeline. A cron job triggers a snapshot every fifteen minutes, while the time slider presents them as points in a graphical timeline. For example, a directory created at 8:45PM and deleted at 9:00PM can be restored by moving the slider to 8:45, clicking on the directory and choosing the Restore option. The Time Slider Setup configuration tool allows users to make additional settings to this feature, and to turn it on or off.

The package management realm seems to be taken very seriously by the OpenSolaris team, since it's being shipped with pair of tools for package manipulation and updates. In the GNU/Linux world this is already a winning combination. Package Manager provides basic functionality. Installing, uninstalling, updating, grouping and searching packages is available; together with repository management. Update Manager will check available updates, notify the user from the system tray and do the update if required.

OpenSolaris packages are organized in four repositories on pkg.opensolaris.org: release, contrib, pending and dev. Only the release repository is enabled by default, which requires additional user actions if the other three repositories are needed. There is fifth repository, called extra, but it becomes available only after registration and login to the Sun Online Account. This also requires reading to how-to and getting dirty in shell with SSL certificates.

OpenSolaris 2008.11 was installed on Thinkpad T61 machine for this test and most of the hardware devices were detected. The Nvidia proprietary driver was set automatically during the install, so 3D functionality was delivered out of the box together with Compiz which is stable and fast. The Intel WiFi controller (PRO/Wireless 4965), bluetooth controller and fingerprint reader are on the list of supported devices, according to the Device Driver Utility. This utility should provide information about the detected devices, and installed drivers or potential problems in this context.

Pretty good driver support is not followed by equal application support since Bluetooth and fingerprint tools are not installed by default. The Network Auto-magic Manager applet, available in system tray, is not that magical since the wireless connection was unacceptably unstable during testing. This hardware has worked flawlessly in most GNU/Linux distributions. The usability glitches are mainly manifested by not understanding the purpose of the close button on notifications (some of them are showing up no matter how much the close button is clicked). Network manager is way ahead Sun's magician, so OpenSolaris developers should pay some additional attention here to make OpenSolaris a usable desktop system.

Laptop support needs improvement too, since it wasn't possible to put the test system to sleep. Partly functional Thinkpad buttons and problems with mounting removable devices threw a shadow on the otherwise pleasant impression that OpenSolaris left during the test.

This version of OpenSolaris clearly demonstrates Sun's strategy to develop system with strong desktop orientation, but it also shows a few serious issues which need to be solved. An unacceptably unstable network connection management system and a lack of packages seems to be the two biggest problems for OpenSolaris. The policy of not including KDE or other desktop environments can be understandable to some point, but complete the absence of QT applications will be a problem for many GNU/Linux users.

The latest OpenSolaris release definitely shows potential, making it a possible competitor to Linux in future releases. Currently, good integration of the ZFS snapshot and ZFS itself are the primary reason for the average GNU/Linux user to try it. On the other hand, OpenSolaris users should be very happy with this release since it shows good progress and improvements over earlier versions. For now, GNU/Linux remains as the best choice in the free Unix-like world for those who want a fast moving desktop.

Comments (14 posted)

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