What components can you swap?

I think at home one should use Linux rather than Solaris. Solaris is made for Servers with at least two (SPARC-)CPU's. It's maybe one of the best Operating Systems for SMP. The performance of a UltraSPARC based system may increase linearly up to 20 CPUs. I think there are not much platforms which can do that.
But Solaris is IMHO a real pain on a single CPU workstation. And in my opinion it's really not made for the x86 platform. Linux and *BSD are the good UNICES on x86 CPU based systems. There is also a lot more good software for Linux.
That's my humble opinion and my experience as I have now worked for a while with SunFire Midrange Servers, with Sun Blade Workstations and also with some Linux based computers.

On upper-end Sun servers, you can hot swap mostly everything, including CPUs, memory and power-supplies ... On these boxes, UltraSPARC performance can actually increase linearly to 64 CPU (E10K), 106 CPU (SF15K) and 72 CPU/144 concurrent threads (SF25K). The UltraSPARC IV chips themselves are designed to support up to 1024 interconnected CPUs.

I've been using Solaris on intel laptops for several years, and strongly disagree with the idea that it is not suitable for desktop use.
Actually, it runs most if not all the applications found on BSDs or GNU-Linuxes distributions, and I doubt a casual end user can see which OS is running behind the GUI he faces.
One difference lies in administration and kernel features, and, in my opinion, Solaris is more consistent and robust than the Linux divergent approaches.
One Solaris for Intel issue is a less extended range of supported hardware, so it is better to know if they will work before buying new boards and peripherals.
Another issue is the smaller number of games available, although I've found some arcade games running well.

That is the case for any of the *BSDs as well, for the most part. There has been more work in Linux to get hardware to work. Its the "sexy" OS right now. Use whatever works and feels good. I may even see if Solaris will work for my x86 if I get a bigger drive any time soon. I'd do the same thing with a Sparc, I'm sure. I'd not stick with Solaris - I'd just have to see how BSD or Linux ran on it

Yes, the problem with drivers is that GPL license forbid to reuse linux code to implement kernel mode drivers for Solaris, so they have to be written from scratch.
If a driver exists for BSD, it is that time possible to reuse portions of code, as the license is less strict.
Of course, the opposite is true too, Sun/Unix copyrights forbid to reuse code from Solaris to build drivers for Linux ...

I tend to look at Solaris as a Data Center ready OS vs. Linux which just doesn't have the things that I as a Production Engineer require for DC readiness. I know this will probably open up a can of worms, but truly Linux is still nearly as lacking as Windows when it comes to DC readiness. Here are just a few of my reason's why.

1. No serial Console capability. I work up to 2-3000 miles from the servers I support, and even if I was local to the DC, there just isn't any room in the cabinets for monitors.
2. Lack of redundancy. Yes with the proper HW ($$) you can get some of that, but by the time I buy an IBM xSeries server I may as well purchased a Sun V280
3. If I have issues with Solaris running on Sun HW, I call Sun and get support regardless if it is HW or SW related. If I have issues with RedHat on HP/Compaq HW, I try to call HP and they say it's a SW issue, so then I try to call Red Hat and they tell me it looks like a HW problem. Now I have to try to play mediator between to other companies while my customers are screaming at me to get the server running.

my 2 cents
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Jeremiah

<edit>
Forgot to mention...
I don't view Linux as useless, I use it alot at home and on my desktop. I am just saying in terms of supportability on Critical Business apps, I would opt for Solaris, AIX, or HP-UX every time.

Recently got real curious about Solaris as well. Gonna give it a serious look this weekend, I hope. This document gives you a sense of context re how Solaris came about and its development: unixed.com/Resources/history_of_solaris.pdf

The main diffs I see so far are in abilities to handle "mission-critical" work. This is one HEAVY DUTY OS. Linux, right now, can't scale to handle what this beast can -- it's not even close, from what I can see.

As far as "small iron" is concerned, there's prolly little diff. Solaris is set up, like the BSDs are, to be able to run Linux apps thru an extra layer. BSDs, strangely enough, generally run Linux faster than the pure distros do, and I wonder if the same goes for Solaris.

I wouldn't worry about the license thing so much. I think it's kinda like Netscape back in the day when, in theory, you were supposed to pay for it, but nobody did (and Netscape didn't seem to care unless you were a major corporation). It's not as if you need to fax in proof of your (say) Developer's Certificate or something before they let you have at it.

Besides, just yesterday officials were saying they're looking to go open source "soon." Mind you, they've said this before but mebbe now they hafta.

If they do, this could be a really, really big deal.

Typically you don't need the "extra layer" to run what people consider "Linux apps". Most open source software willl compile directly on Solaris or the BSDs without too much trouble. You use lxrun or some other emulation package to run true Linux binaries, but why bother?

Hi,
every body
I want to download ( free solaris 9 ) to test it on my Pc intel. Where to get it.
thanks
best regards
I am using debian and fedora

I put "free solaris 9" in google and this was the first link that showed up .

I know I'm embarrassingly lazy, but, SHEESH, you gotta try even a LITTLE BIT man! Heck, it'd have been faster (going to google) than bothering to post here

This might be the one and only time I ever get to be condescending to a poor newbie on this board Boy, that felt good

Abd_bela, you can also try Solaris 10 beta available at:

http://wwws.sun.com/software/solaris...press/get.html

i think the major difference is not whether you are dealing with a pure unix system (aix, solaris etc.) or a clone (gnu/linux, *bsd etc.); the fact that those are clones doesn't make them necessarily worse

i think the real question is in what kind of an environment you want to deploy a system or another

if you have a small company/business, you will choose free and open source software; you will have the advantage that it is highly reliable, good quality and doesn't cost much either (you will need to have your own IT guys)

if we talk about a big business, you will want to resort to some commercial form of unix, since you have the money to afford it, and on the other hand, if anything should go wrong, you have someone to hold accountable

Hey, waking up a five years old thread !

In any case, Solaris despite being commercial is now definitely open source (OpenSolaris) and downloadable for free.
Companies wanting someone to be accountable for support can choose RedHat, Novell, Solaris, OpenSolaris so the borderline you draw isn't that clear.