OpenIndiana Hipster 2022.10 Released With Updates For This OpenSolaris-Derived OS

[kylew77]

In July I wrote about my latest experience trying to do day-to-day work with OpenIndiana, and it's still frustratingly buggy / incompatible with software I use effortlessly on Linux (or even macOS). I guess I keep trying to use OI because of sentimental reasons -- it was my first encounter with a Unix OS (SunOS) that was both scary and intriguing at the time.

Tribblix is an interesting alternative to try out. It doesn't have all of the 'baggage' that OI has and is almost fun. Unfortunately Tribblix too cannot run everything I need compared to Linux or macOS.

I look forward to the day when I can run OI or Tribblix full-time, just because.

I'll be sure to give that a read tonight. Tribblix is such an interesting Illumos distro. Only ever ran it in a VM but loved it!

[willbprog177]

In July I wrote about my latest experience trying to do day-to-day work with OpenIndiana, and it's still frustratingly buggy / incompatible with software I use effortlessly on Linux (or even macOS). I guess I keep trying to use OI because of sentimental reasons -- it was my first encounter with a Unix OS (SunOS) that was both scary and intriguing at the time.

Tribblix is an interesting alternative to try out. It doesn't have all of the 'baggage' that OI has and is almost fun. Unfortunately Tribblix too cannot run everything I need compared to Linux or macOS.

I look forward to the day when I can run OI or Tribblix full-time, just because.

[dragon321]

I wouldn't say Oracle really killed OpenSolaris, rather that it evolved into OpenIndiana. What really did (mostly) kill OpenIndiana is the idiot who thought it was a cool/good/awesome idea to name it Hipster. Most people would, rightfully, avoid having anything to do with hipsters. It's gotta be one of the worst software name choices in history. One of the most predictable jokes in this forum is the name of ReiserFS whenever it's mentioned, and that the current devs don't rebrand it into something better. Same goes for OpenIndiana Hipster.

A shame really, a really missed opportunity for some good competition to Linux and the BSD's. 10 years ago.

They did because OpenSolaris project was killed by the fact that Oracle stopped providing code after they acquired Sun. illumos was created after that.

About name - yeah, not a big fan of it either.

There's also OmniOS (for servers) and SmartOS (same).

I didn't know about them, thank you for links.

[lproven]

Last time i tried OpenIndiana I couldn't get it to work in KVM.
So. Maybe i can give it another try.

Works like a treat in VirtualBox, FWIW.

[pracedru]

Last time i tried OpenIndiana I couldn't get it to work in KVM.
So. Maybe i can give it another try.

[dreich]

It's the same issue that BSDs already have on the desktop, they don't offer anything new that Linux already offers, it's the sad truth. The only one that managed to achieve something similar was PC-BSD and then died.

During the mid-2000s, OpenSolaris arguably offered more features, higher levels of integration and more polish than Linux. Topping all that was a license that was (at least according to some) more free than Linux. Apparently, all the above were not enough to sway platform adoption towards alternatives. Even if someBSD adds <insert_great_feature> today, it will only register within someBSD's particular niche and Linux will remain unaffected.

[Nozo]

The name is terrible but I think the biggest hurdle for OpenIndiana's adoption was its deliberately GPL-incompatible licence. Plus the fact that from a FOSS point of view, it always felt like a solution looking for a problem. For those who want open source Unix, there are the BSDs, for everyone else there is Linux, and OpenIndiana doesn't seem to offer any compelling feature against those more established players.

It's the same issue that BSDs already have on the desktop, they don't offer anything new that Linux already offers, it's the sad truth. The only one that managed to achieve something similar was PC-BSD and then died.

[cynic]

I've always wanted to run either OpenIndiana or Triblex as a daily driver just to see how it is. I remember using openSolaris in university around 2012 and being impressed with it but it was running so slow on our workstations back then.

that's why Linux people used to call it Slowaris

What I liked a lot is that even under heavy load my Solaris/SPARC workstation continued to work while the much more powerful Intel/Linux workstations in the same circumstances trudged like hell.

It was a tank (slow but unstoppable) vs a Ferrari (fast but can be halted with moderate diffuculties)

[evert_mouw]

Zones were the first, but now FreeBSD and Linux have the same feature (and Windows too by the way). ZFS was well integrated but I don't see it as something worry changing platforms for

In my experience, it takes me less time to install OmniOS than to install ZoL... Also updating comes without pain as ZFS is so nicely integrated. But then I only use said box for storage. It's also the only box that runs a solaris-derived OS for me. Indeed, fitting use-cases are in decline.

[skeevy420]

And, no, I'm not creating a new thread for this because basically no one reads Phoronix Forums outside of news comments.

I made the mistake of going to the Phoronix forums the other day and now I'm genuinely concerned that xfcemint needs to talk to a counselor or psychiatrist after stumbling across those security manifesto threads.

Does anyone know where OI's ZFS and OpenZFS stand? Like, can OI's ZFS open a ZoL 2.1.7 volume? From what I can tell that's a no since their features don't align.