Mon, 28 Apr 2008
OpenSolaris, try 1
Given the recent uproar between the OpenSolaris community and Sun corporate overlords (insightfully commented by Ted Ts'o), I have decided to give OpenSolaris a try.
It was a failure: I did not found what version should I download:
- The Developer preview (aka Indiana) does not boot on my virtual machine: after booting from GRUB, it just prints the three lines of a copyright message, and locks up. Not speaking about their license which prohibits even modifying the software on my own machine.
- The Solaris Express {Developer,Community} Edition requires me to register, and probably to use their proprietary "download manager", whatever it is. Moreover, the license explicitly states that the software is not for production use, and that any evaluation of OpenSolaris one may do is a confidental information of Sun, and as such, it is forbidden to publish it. Talk about an Open Source.
- I do not want to use the Live CD distros (there are several of them available). I want to create a ready-to-use virtual machine, just in case I want to test anything later.
- I do not want to use NexentaOS, as I would like to test also the Solaris userland, not only the kernel.
So, my dear lazyweb, where would you start if you wanted to try OpenSolaris without registering, and with access to all the source in the Open Source(tm) manner, including the rights to modify the software and publish benchmarks? And, more importantly, have you ever kissed a girl?