Oracle Releases Solaris 11.4 "CBE" Free For Open-Source Developers / Non-Production Use

Oracle has begun making a new version of Solaris 11.4 available for free/open-source developers and for non-production personal use. Oracle Solaris 11.4 "CBE" was announced to little fanfare last month for what many open-source OS enthusiasts will likely argue is too little, too late.

Oracle Solaris 11.4 CBE was announced at the start of March but slipping under my radar until mentioned by a Phoronix reader today. Solaris 11.4 CBE is the "Common Build Environment" and intended for open-source developers and strictly non-production personal use... That is if you want Solaris for new installs in 2022.

The fond memories of the Sun OpenSolaris days more than a decade ago...

The new Solaris 11.4 "CBE" spin is effectively a rolling release and from Oracle's perspective hopes to ease the integration of the open-source software relied upon by Solaris rather than being bound to the dated 11.4.0 GA release.

Downloading the new Solaris 11.4 CBE does require an Oracle account. The CBE builds are also described as "similar to a beta, they are pre-release builds of a particular SRU." The non-production use license is put out under the Oracle Technology Network Early Adopter License Agreement for Oracle Solaris.

Oracle will allow upgrading from these free CBE releases to paid SRU releases under Oracle support contracts. More details for those interested in Oracle Solaris 11.4 CBE via the Oracle Solaris blog.