What is it?
Early in 2005 Sun began to make core products such as server
operating system Solaris and the Java Enterprise System, and
associated developer and management tools, available in no-cost,
open source form. Sun explained that this was to get more people
trying out its products. "More software adoption means access to
more customers, which in turn means more opportunity for Sun and
Sun partners to sell supported products and services," it said.
Sun's main motivation, as the supplier of the leading Unix
implementation, was to fight off the growing dominance of Linux.
But, pointing out that Linux was the flagship of the open source
movement, ported to more than 80 platforms and with widely
available skills, UK analyst Robin Bloor commented, "Solaris is a
heavy-duty operating system that has many capabilities that Linux
currently aspires to but does not yet deliver.
"However, it is probably too late in the day for Solaris to take
the wind out of Linux's sails." A year later, Sun is making moves
to enable Solaris to coexist with Linux rather than oust it.
Where did it originate?
Sun was founded in 1982. Solaris gradually took over from the
proprietary Sun OS during the 1990s.
What's it for?
Solaris 10 was a major release of Sun's Unix implementation,
with features such as containers to isolate applications and
services, a dynamic tracing framework (DTrace) for troubleshooting
system problems in real time, a major upgrade of the filing system
(ZFS), and predictive self-healing.
Also available under a no-cost licence is the Java Studio, a
drag and drop integrated development environment, with an
Enterprise version that includes the unified modelling language.
The Solaris Enterprise System includes a bundle of open source
products like Apache Tomcat, the Perl and Python scripting
languages, Gnome and Mozilla for the desktop, and the Postgres
database.
What makes it special?
Making Solaris open source has succeeded in extending the range
of platforms it can be used with. It has been ported to IBM's
PowerPC, and Sun also claims the Solaris kernel has been used to
replace the Linux kernel. Sun claims to be "the only industrial
grade Unix" for x86 systems, and is targeting other low-cost
hardware.
How difficult is it to master?
The move to open standards means more people should be able to
work with Solaris more easily. Training remains a major
money-spinner for Sun though, with a five-day course required for
existing Solaris professionals to move up to Solaris 10.
What systems does it run on?
Sun Sparc, Intel and AMD processors. The open source community
is making other ports independent of Sun. Sun's Java Enterprise
System runs on Solaris, Red Hat Linux, Windows and HP-UX, and some
Sun software is also available for IBM's Aix.
What's coming up?
The Solaris Linux Application Environment, which which will
enable users to to run Linux applications natively on Solaris.
Rates of pay
Junior Solaris administrators and Java and C++ developers with
Solaris experience can look for a salary of ｣23,000 to
｣30,000.ﾊRates for more experienced staff can be much higher,
especially in the City.
Training
Solaris and other open source products can be downloaded from Sun's
website, along with details of the company's classroom-based and
online training. Some free modules are available. There are also
several community sites with free tutorials and code.
www.opensolaris.org
www.sun.com/solaris
www.sun.com/training/catalog/operating_systems/s10_glance.xml