Open Source: Last Year's Penguin - Systems Management News On The Web

CHANNELS

ON THE WEB

PRINT EDITION

BZ MEDIA

AS OF 8/20/2008 9:30AM EST

Open Source: Last Year's Penguin
By Kenneth Hess

June 15, 2008 —

I can’t think of anything sexier than dressing up a computer with a new operating system. There is just something pleasing about seeing that login screen for the first time. Drinking in that new operating system smell, checking out the applications, tweaking the background, getting sound to work, installing updates—just basking in the less-than-familiar glow of a new desktop.

OK, don’t let the crickets start chirping just yet. I know, I’m a nerd—that isn’t front-page news. I get as excited installing and discussing new operating systems as you must when you see next year’s car models, or as my wife does when she gets a peek at the newest fashions from up-and-coming designers. I appreciate creativity, quality and something a little different in an operating system, too, but I maintain an undying loyalty to my first love: Linux.

It’s been just more than a month (May) since the first official OpenSolaris release, and already people are saying it could replace Linux. Replace Linux?! It’s interesting to see the winds of change alter their course so quickly in favor of a fair-complexioned newcomer. I guess the Operating System business is much like fashion: “One day you’re in and the next day you’re out” (a la Heidi Klum on television’s Project Runway).

Linux won’t be going away anytime soon and certainly not in favor of upstart OpenSolaris. OpenSolaris isn’t groomed or polished, nor has it paid any dues in the OS Wars. It is a nice niche OS, but it just isn’t Linux. In fact, I scoff in the general direction of those who prefer it to Linux.

Would someone have the nerve to pluck the Linux kernel and replace it with OpenSolaris? Projects like Nexenta Core, which is the OpenSolaris kernel wrapped in a Debian/Ubuntu distribution schema, will pop up everywhere. They’ll expect us to embrace it as if we’d thought of it ourselves. Everyone who is anyone—or who knows anyone—will sport the new hybrid operating system because of its status of hip and cool.

After some adoption, there are those who’ll be curious about its pedigree. There’s buzz about what happens if OpenSolaris moves to a GPLv3 license while Linux is still stuck with GPLv2. The hope, I think, is to share code between the two projects. I guess if OpenSolaris changes from its current licensing (CDDL) to a GPL one, someone will have to change the recursive GNU (Gnu’s Not Unix) to GIU (Gnu Is Unix). To be honest, OpenSolaris doesn’t need the GPL to be viable. It needs support. It needs developer interest. It needs many things before anyone goes mucking about with its license. As end users, do we really care which license it holds?

I find myself quickly losing interest over discussions of such matters. Does it look cool? Does it perform well under pressure? Where did it get those drivers? Now, I can sink my choppers into those topics. Licensing doesn’t even rank in the top 10 things to discuss about OpenSolaris. Fashionable Penguinistas, like me, have neither the time nor the patience for such drivel.

Perhaps, to end the OS Wars, we could hold our own reality show—bring out the best coders, developers and GUI designers in the open-source world and have them create something wonderful each week for our entertainment. The OpenSolaris community, although fledgling compared to that of Linux, hopes that developers decide to throw their weight, skills and numbers behind the project to continue its forward momentum.

I’m just looking for some Linux loyalty here folks—but in the end, I’m a proponent of all things open source and will continue to support the movement in its entirety—including OpenSolaris. Scanning the available information on the project and the fact that many advocates want it to merge code with Linux brings me to quote Project Runway’s Tim Gunn when contemplating a poorly designed garment: “This worries me.” Linux is Linux, OpenSolaris is OpenSolaris, and never the twain shall meet; that’s my new mantra for any matters relating to either of these two systems.

I want Linux and OpenSolaris to live parallel lives on separate coasts, if you will. They can play nice together, share a little code, and even enjoy compatibility at a distance, but a relationship any closer may lead to something unspeakable: Unixification. Unixification, simply, is code sharing among all Unices. That would require standards and demand that everyone play nice with everyone else. Some interoperability is valid and desirable, but a single code standard for all Unix variants—no thank you.

I like having the ability to choose from Linux, Solaris, OpenSolaris, FreeBSD, AIX, HP-UX and others. They are all unique. No one wants just one brand of car, shoe or computer. Take a lesson from fashion: Coordinate, complement and accessorize, but if you’re too “matchy matchy,” it just doesn’t work. And you need to “make it work.” Thanks again, Tim Gunn.

Kenneth Hess is a freelance technical writer who writes on a variety of subjects including Linux, MySQL, SQLite, PHP, and Apache. Reach him at kenhess.com.

Related Search Term(s): Linux

EMAIL THIS ARTICLE

SEND FEEDBACK

MORE COLUMNS

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
Systems Management Week

PDF & PRINT EDITION

Download Current Issue!
ISSUE 8/15/2008 PDF

Need Back Issues?
DOWNLOAD HERE

Receive The Print Edition?
SUBSCRIBE HERE

GET NOTIFIED!
About all of the latest Resources

HOME SITE MAP RSS CURRENT ISSUE BACK ISSUES SUBSCRIBER SERVICES ABOUT US CONTACT US BZ MEDIA