FreeBSD I am

Here I am, after slotting in the new 160GB hard drive and downloaded FreeBSD 8.1.

This time it boots well, so well that I am now typing on firefox on KDE on Xorg on FreeBSD8.1

Although I am still configuring my Samba share, but to my delight, my data in ZFS can be ported to FreeBSD without much issues.

Once everything is well and smooth. I will install FreeBSD to my 500GB OpenSolaris drive, and wave OS good bye.

So be it, after 3 years. At least I still have my ZFS. :)

FreeBSD 8.1 Released

I am gonna give FreeBSD another try because OpenSolaris is so dead now. I have a spare hard drive, so it won't hurt much for me to experiment a bit.

Release notes for FreeBSD 8.1 is here.

OpenSolaris Crashed!

Updated:
Edited title from 'OpenSolaris Clashed' to 'OpenSolaris Crashed'. Thanks Lim for pointing out that mistake. :)

Last evening my OpenSolaris box fell inside a reboot loop, right after I chose the BE image to boot from, the machine rebooted itself, and this loop continued ad infinitum.

The first reaction I had was suspecting my system drive went dead. So I booted using a 2009.06 CD, trying to see if there is any disk rescue utility. Nope, there is none.

Trying to import the zpool that housed my data:

$pfexec zpool import -f dpool

It worked, so my data was fine. *phew*

But problem appeared when I tried to import the zpool with my root:

$pfexec zpool import -f rpool

*System rebooted*

I nearly made the conclusion the drive was dead, but to further nail it down to hardware problem, I went ahead and installed a new copy of OS.

Everything went smoothly!! The system boots up properly again and again. Hey, I had a software issue.

Now I kind of suspect why 2010.04 never came out. The kernel has a very latent bug that will silently corrupt the system to total boot failure.

I guess I will use snv_111b for now, or until I can install FreeBSD...

OpenSolaris Updated

SunOS opensolaris 5.11 snv_134 i86pc i386 i86pc

I think this is the OpenSolaris 2010.03, but whatever it is, it is snappier, faster, and more responsive. I haven't explored the library inside yet.

OpenSolaris Updated

I have updated my system from snv_110 to snv_131. The changes so far seem positive, the user interface is more slick, and all my CIFS exports are intact.

Here is output of `uname -a`

SunOS opensolaris 5.11 snv_131 i86pc i386 i86pc


I still love Solaris.

As a side note, Debian/kFreeBSD is coming out in a month's time. It is the standard Debian distro, with the FreeBSD kernel (Should be the one from Debian 7.2-1). Even though this release doesn't support ZFS yet, I do think it is a good start, and I will check it out in due course.

Pool Mirrored

I just bought another drive for my trusted OpenSolaris box to create a mirror for my data.

The command to create the pool is deceptively simple:


pfexec zpool attach poolname original_drive new_drive

To get the name of the pool and the original drive name:

pfexec zpool status

How about the name of the new drive? The only way I can think of is:

pfexec format

Comparing the outputs of the above commands will let you find the name of the new drive.

Example:

cuppa@opensolaris:/datapool$ pfexec format
Searching for disks...done


AVAILABLE DISK SELECTIONS:
0. c7t0d0
/pci@0,0/pci1458,b002@11/disk@0,0
1. c7t2d0
/pci@0,0/pci1458,b002@11/disk@2,0
2. c7t4d0
/pci@0,0/pci1458,b002@11/disk@4,0
Specify disk (enter its number):

Next we will check the status of my existing pools:

cuppa@opensolaris:~$ pfexec zpool status
pool: datapool
state: ONLINE
scrub: none requested
config:

NAME STATE READ WRITE CKSUM
datapool ONLINE 0 0 0
c7t0d0 ONLINE 0 0 0

errors: No known data errors

pool: rpool
state: ONLINE
scrub: none requested
config:

NAME STATE READ WRITE CKSUM
rpool ONLINE 0 0 0
c7t2d0s0 ONLINE 0 0 0

errors: No known data errors
cuppa@opensolaris:~$

Comparing the two outputs, it shows the device 'c7t4d0' is not used and therefore the new drive.

Adding it as mirror is straightforward:

pfexec zpool attach datapool c7t0d0 c7td4d0

Final product:

cuppa@opensolaris:~$ pfexec zpool status datapool
pool: datapool
state: ONLINE
scrub: none requested
config:

NAME STATE READ WRITE CKSUM
datapool ONLINE 0 0 0
mirror ONLINE 0 0 0
c7t0d0 ONLINE 0 0 0
c7t4d0 ONLINE 0 0 0

errors: No known data errors
cuppa@opensolaris:~$

WARNING: If you got the order of drive names wrong, you risk overwriting all your data!!! Be careful.

On Compiling OCaml

I just finished compiled OCaml from source on Opensolaris (2009.06), the latest version at this time of writing is 3.11.1.

The steps are straight-forward except one catch: The build is dependent on gcc and gnu make. In fact the default 'make' program that comes with Solaris won't work.

Solution is simple: go to www.blastwave.org and download the relevant packages. Just follow their instructions and you should be fine. :)

On an unrelated note, I miss her again but don't have anyway to contact her anymore... :(

FreeBSD 8 is Out

Production-grade FreeBSD 8 is released, and I have found FreeBSD more and more attractive as the OS of choice for my home server (as compared to OpenSolaris). Slashdot has a comprehensive coverage for it here with reviews, upgrade instructions, and screenshots.

So far I have not seen much development in OpenSolaris: the latest snv_128 snapshot cannot even boot on my amd64 system, so i am stuck with the 2009.06 of OS.

FreeBSD has added some interesting features, and ZFS is one of them. Unfortunately FreeBSD only supports up to version 13 of the ZFS, while my data is stored in version 14 format and this is an issue. Any slight mistake in migration will see all my data gone, which is something I hate to see happening.

I am still considering the relative merits of migrating to FreeBSD, the adding of more and more GNU tools and greater Linux compatibility has made this Unix quite a strong contender as desktop OS.

On the other hand, my current OpenSolaris setup is working properly as a file and general purpose server. I have spent more and more time using it as opposed to my Windoze machine nowadays. So I have to give OpenSolaris due credit for its stability and performance.

BTW, there are movements to put Debian on the FreeBSD and OpenSolaris kernel, though these two ports don't seem to have much development nowadays.

Using Static IP Address With Vista ICS

I have been trying to figure out a way to access Internet via Vista ICS from my OpenSolaris box. Since my OS box is a file server, it doesn't make sense to use a DHCP or else it will get a different IP address upon each boot up which is not convenient.

After some time of experimenting with it, I managed to get the static IP assigned to the OS box, and here are the steps.

For ease of naming, I will call the Vista host as 'H', this is the computer with ICS turned on that will connect to the outside world. The client computer that wishes to use ICS we shall call as 'C', and in my case it is running OpenSolaris snv_101b.

• Make sure both H and C are connected somehow, either wired or wireless is entirely up to you. The bottom line is they must be connected. The most time-wasting mistake is to try troubleshooting a network connectivity at software level while the root-cause is due to unplugged cable(s).
  
• There is nothing to configure at H side once ICS is up and running
• To make sure ICS really works, you may want to enable DHCP at C to see if it can talk to the outside world
• Once C is working with DHCP, disable the auto configuration by unchecking the "Configure network automatically' box.
  



• Set the following parameter
  
IP address: 192.168.0. x where x is between 2 and 254, inclusive

Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0

Gateway address: 192.168.0.1 (this address is fixed by M$)




• Check /etc/resolv.conf and make sure the following lines are there:
  
  
domain mshome.net
nameserver 192.168.0.1

  
  


• Open and edit /etc/nsswitch.conf (root privilege required), search for the following lines:
  
  
hosts: files

ipnodes: files


  
  Change the above lines to:
  
hosts: files dns

ipnodes: files dns


Now C should be able to access the Internet normally while having a static private IP. Have fun. :)

OpenSolaris Kernel Building (Part 1)

Building the kernel for open-source OS is the rite of passage for any self-respecting nerds. I have ample of experience in compiling Linux kernels, for the x86 platform and a couple of ARM platforms, and today I tried my hands on OpenSolaris kernel.

It seems the process is not straight forward, and until now I still can't get it done.

The problem lies in the documentation and the kernel source code don't come in one clean package. The relatively weak package management system also exacerbates the situation as I need to run around to hunt for dependencies. Another issue that I face is the poor documentation, not the lack of it, but there are contradicting documents on Sun's website to the extent I am not sure which document is up-to-date and usable.

After digging through the web and some careful investigations, the following sites seem credible:

• OpenSolaris OS/Net Developer's Reference
• OpenSolaris OS/Net Current Downloadable Resources
• OpenSolaris OS/Net Download Center

I have most of the needed packages in place, and I figure the next thing I need to do is to follow the instructions closely to get my kernel compiled. However I am still very new to Solaris and need more time to figure out the overall system architecture.

Using Vista as a Router

Cuppa got himself a desktop for development work, and it is not unexpected the OS of choice is OpenSolaris. Mainly for the safe-keeping of the data.

I do aware there are Internet-based storage services like dropbox, however I feel much safer and can sleep better knowing my data just sit by my side, instead of sitting thousand miles in data centers that I don't know.

During the setup of my desktop I learned the importance of utilizing resources that I have. The case in point is only my laptop (running Vista) has wireless capability, while my OpenSolaris box doesn't. Initially I was thinking to get a wireless interface or a wireless-to-wired device. However it is not very efficient and I don't want to shell out more money just to get myself connected. I figured maybe Internet isn't very important, I can download everything using Windows and throw them to the Solaris box. While I stared at my laptop, it dawned to me I could use the Vista laptop just as a bridge. Bingo! part of the solution resolved.

Next, how should I connect those two? I recall I have a switch with my friend, but that means I gotta wait until weekend to get it back. While taking shower, I asked myself why I needed the switch and thought about straight and cross cables. Suddenly the word 'PHY' crossed my mind and I remember for most modern Ethernet PHYs, the types of cable no longer matter. This is one of the advantages of working in small companies where I am exposed to different aspect of engineering, I learned that modern PHYs actually have abilities to detect the cable type and do the swap internally. In fact, you can now just use straight or cross cables where you please. I pulled out a straight cable and paired the two devices up. Now all my computers are networked and I don't have to spend an extra dime, PLUS I have a solid OpenSolaris with the trusted ZFS for all my files.

Enabling CIFS (SMB) on OpenSolaris

Updated: Aug 16, 2009
For snv_111b, it seems SUNWsmba is needed again. Instructions updated.

Updated: Jan 14, 2009
There are posts out there that advise the install of SUNWsmba, but so far my experience shows it is not necessary, and could add to unnecessary hassles. My new setup is with OpenSolaris snv_101b and M$ Vista with SP1. All the following steps are still valid.


---------------------

I thought enabling SMB on OpenSolaris should be straight forward and just like a stroll in the park, I was dead wrong.

It was partly my own fault, because I used to associate OpenSolaris with Unix, and in turn that means stability and no reboot required. According to my dictionary, rebooting to make changes to take effect is sissy, and is only for Windows. My (biased) assumption costed me a few hours of debugging.

Note: Recently even Linux distros like Ubuntu also need reboots after upgrade. Duh!

Before I start, here are my environment settings and assumptions:

1. One OpenSolaris machine with snv_100a (NEW: verified and working under snv_111b also)
2. One Windows XP Pro with SP3 in the default workgroup (Vista Home Premium will work, too)
3. Both machines are on the same subnet
4. NEW: Due to my machines are at home, security is not my main concern. If your set up is exposed to public or/and hostile environment, please think twice for the smb settings.

My goal is to have OpenSolaris to host a Windows-accessible directory.

Here are the steps that work for me:

• First assume root privilege and install the smb packages
  

# pkg install SUNWsmbskr
# pkg install SUNWsmbs
# pkg install SUNWsmba

• Reboot your machine. No, I am not kidding, this was where I tripped. Without rebooting, smbd won't start and "smb/server" will be in maintenance mode. Some people suggest running "rem_drv smbsrv" and then do "add_drv smbsrv". That didn't work for me.
• Import the Solaris CIFS service SMF manifest.
  

# svccfg import /var/svc/manifest/network/smb/server.xml

• Start the CIF service. You may see an error message emitted by "milestone/network", complaining on multiple instances of "network/physical". From my understanding this can be safely ignored.
  

# svcadm enable -r smb/server

• Update the "/etc/pam.conf" file by adding the following line to it

other password required pam_smb_passwd.so.1 nowarn


• Next you need to reset the password of the username who will access the SMB service. In order to do that, you need to run the passwd and you can use back the same password, the goal of this is so that the line we entered in pam.conf will be processed
  

# passwd username
• Import the SMB manifest
  #svccfg import /var/svc/manifest/network/samba.xml
  


• Copy the example configuration file over
  #cp /etc/sfw/smb.conf-example /etc/sfw/smb.conf




• Edit the smb.conf and list the directories you wish to be exported. Since the authentication is troublesome to set, I have the following lines in my smb.conf. The hosts allow provides a very weak form of security and should not be used for untrusted networks. The 'share' mode for security disables the authentication (default is 'security = user')
  
  security = share
  hosts allow = [IP of Windows machine]
  


• After this you can proceed with creating the zfs dataset and enable the SMB either through sharemgr or 'zfs set sharesmb=on'. There are ample references on these operations, I will just skip the details here.

Upgrading OpenSolaris

Updated: Dec 12, 2008
OpenSolaris 2008.11 is officially out. Download link here. The new version is far superior than 2008.05 with a lot of new features and bug fixes.

=====


I just upgraded my OpenSolaris box from build86 (the version installed from the CD image) to build 93. To get the build number of your existing system, use 'uname -v' and it will show 'snv_xx' where xx is the build number. This post only discusses the upgrade from snv_86 to snv_93.

The upgrade process is not straightforward. First of all, use 'upgrade all' or install the 'entire' package in Package Manager will render the system unbootable because of changes in GRUB boot system. Second, direct 'image-update' may also fail due to another bug. Therefore we will do the update manually by creating and updating another BE (Build Environment).

My main reference is this post from OpenSolaris forum. I will list (read: copy directly from the post) the instructions that worked for me. Despite the dollar sign ($) at the following commands, you need root privilege to proceed.

Again, standard warnings in place: back up your important data, don't believe anything on internet, use at your own risk, call your mum, yadi yada.


Steps:

1. Make sure the latest version of IPS software is installed
   
$ BUILD=`uname -v | sed s/snv_//`
$ pfexec pkg refresh
$ pfexec pkg install SUNWipkg@0.5.11-0.$BUILD

   
2. We will build our BE (Build Environment) manually:
   
   First, display the list of the existing BEs on the system
   
$ beadm list
BE Active Active on Mountpoint Space
Name reboot Used
---- ------ --------- ---------- -----
opensolaris yes yes legacy 2.23G

   
3. Here we can see the machine only has one BE namely 'opensolaris'. We need to create another BE and populate it with build 93 files. After we are done, we tell opensolaris to boot the new BE in the next restarting of the machine. By convention, let's call the new BE 'opensolaris-'. Note the trailing hyphen (-).
   
   
4. Execute the following sequence of commands to create, mount and update the new BE
   
$ pfexec beadm create opensolaris-
$ mkdir /tmp/mnt$$
$ pfexec beadm mount opensolaris- /tmp/mnt$$
$ pfexec pkg -R /tmp/mnt$$ image-update
   
5. !!!IMPORTANT!!!: Failure to perform this step will render your machine a piece of dead meat. Update the GRUB configuration on your ZFS boot device(s):
   
$ pfexec /tmp/mnt$$/boot/solaris/bin/update_grub -R /tmp/mnt$$

   
6. Unmount and activate the newly created BE
   
$ pfexec beadm unmount opensolaris-
$ pfexec beadm activate opensolaris-

   
7. [Optional] You can delete the old BE using beadm. Refer to the man page or google around...
   
8. Reboot and you should be good to go. :)
   

Remote Desktop and VNC in OpenSolaris

After gone for holiday for sometime, I am back to OpenSolaris.

OpenSolaris has Remote Desktop (RD) pre-installed, however RD has its constraints: someone at the local console can see exactly what the remote user is doing, and vice versa. This is sometimes not desirable. For example I have my Solaris box sitting in lab while my cubicle is somewhere else, I don't wish to let everyone in the lab to see what I am doing at my box remotely. Even though I can shut-off or even remove the local console, RD still is not a good solution for remote access. Luckily, Virtual Network Connection (VNC) fits my purposes, though there are some work involved which I shall discuss below.

My set up is as follows: in lab the OpenSolaris box has a hostname of 'Solaris', while in cubicle a Linux box named 'Ubuntu'.

1. First of all, enable the default Remote Desktop at Solaris. Enabling RD serves two purposes: test the box's network connectivity, and RD is useful for subsequent troubleshooting of the VNC setup. I shall skip RD setup in this post.
2. Once RD is up and running, goto Solaris and invoke System->Administration->Package Manager. Type 'vnc' in the search box and you should see two packages: One is vncviewer, another is vncserver. Install both.
   
3. At command line, run vncserver as follows:

vncserver

If this is your first time running vncserver, vncserver will ask you to supply a password, this is the password to access your VNC session only, therefore for security purpose, it is recommended not to use the same password as your current login account. The following is the output from a session running at my Ubuntu machine. Output from OpenSolaris will be similar. Observe the output is in the form of [hostname]:[number]. The number identifies your session number, and yes, you can have more than one sessions running at the same time.

You will require a password to access your desktops.

Password:
Verify:

New 'ubuntu:1 (chai)' desktop is ubuntu:1

Creating default startup script /home/chai/.vnc/xstartup
Starting applications specified in /home/chai/.vnc/xstartup
Log file is /home/chai/.vnc/ubuntu:1.log



4. To access the VNC sessions at Solaris, from Ubuntu, I use Vinagre, a VNC viewer for GNOME.
   
   
5. The last piece of hurdle we need to clear is on running Gnome desktop under VNC. By default the VNC is configured to run TWM, a fine desktop manager, albeit not as pretty as Gnome. To accomplish this mission, we will edit xstartup under /.vnc (note the period in front of 'v')
   
6. Comment out the following line by adding a hash sign (#) in front
   
   twm &

   
   The commented out line will look like:
   
   #twm &




7. Add the following lines in the xstartup
   
unset SESSION_MANAGER
gnome-session &
   
   Whenever Gnome (or other session managers like KDE) runs, it will set the variable SESSION_MANAGER, and by default Gnome will not run when another session manager is active. We unset this variable to circumvent the check.
8. Finally, to end a VNC session:
   
   vncserver -kill :[session number]
   
   In our case, the correct command will be
   
   vncserver -kill :1
   

OpenSolaris Review: Setting Up

NOTE: Updated Aug 3, 2008. New stuff in blue

My previous post was a quick summary on what I had done the past few days on OpenSolaris. I think OpenSolaris deserves more than that and hence I will try to run a series of reviews and my experience with tinkering OpenSolaris.

The executive summary of this post: OpenSolaris though has the same look and feel as other gnome-powered Linux, there are little inconveniences that really get into the way. This post will point out mainly what I find weird/inconvenient.

Disclaimer: I am a regular user of Windoze (XP only, if you care to know) and Linux for over 10 years. My experience with Solaris only amounted to logging into the UltraSparc boxes in my university to change the login password because all other stations running Windoze or Linux were occupied. Therefore I consciously or unconsciously will treat anything that deviates from the Linux-way as 'weird'. Be warned.

Good Stuff of OpenSolaris:

• ZFS is sexy with tonnes of cool features. However you will only see limited strength when you have only one hdd.
  
• The Solaris kernel is well-thought of, and I feel the organization of the configuration files is comparable, if not more sane, than most Linux distributions
• Utilities like crossbow and dtrace are famous. Personally I have no experience with any of those and definitely will put my hands on them asap.
  

Things that suck in OpenSolaris

• [Updated 3 Aug 2008] The following issue only applies to my old P4 machine. I installed OpenSolaris on a newer machine, and the following problem didn't show up.
  I used a USB keyboard, but OpenSolaris cannot detect it. Therefore I cannot choose the Grub boot option and have to wait for 30 seconds for the menu to time-out and execute the default option. Ironically during bootup even the BIOS can read from that keyboard and I have no problem in maneuvering the CMOS BIOS menus. Needless to say, Ubuntu doesn' t have this problem.
  
• OpenSolaris doesn't fully support Pentium 4. 'dmesg' report SpeedStep is disabled
• While trying to format my Linux-formatted Seagate 80GB HDD with zfs, it reports the drive can only be formatted with 'utility provided by the drive manufacturer'. However without formating, zfs can read and write from it fine. This confuses me a whole lot. Until now I am not sure if the drive is ok because I can't think of a way to verify its surfaces. In most OSes, you can just format the drive and get to know the status of the drive. Not for zfs.
• While nfs is working right out of the box, samba is a bitch to set up. This is due to although the packages are installed, they are not set up properly. First I have to create the smb.conf by copying it from the example file, next I need to configure svcadm by importing the samba.xml file somewhere in the filesystem using 'svccfg import'. Also the default samba.xml needs some modification to invoke nmbd. All in all, smb (samba) is a pain to use compared to nfs. I guess smb in such condition may due to security reason, but come on, at least there should be proper documents somewhere. What I could find was blog posts here and there and it is very frustrating to crawl around the web like crazy just to get samba working.

Note: Samba finally works for me.

• Networking is harder than necessary(covered by my previous post here). If network auto-magic cannot configure the networking settings properly, user needs to disable it manually and enable the default networking interface, which is trouble-some.
  

Summary:
In terms of usability, OpenSolaris still lags behind and for now I think it is more suitable for more experienced and tech-savvy computer users

First Dive into OpenSolaris

These few days I have been playing and experimenting with OpenSolaris 2008.05 and Ubuntu 8.04.

At the surface, OpenSolaris looks very similar to Ubuntu or any distro of Linux that runs gnome:

• It also provides most of the open source tools that shipped with Linux
• The look and feel are 'almost' the same
• It has the authentic Unix directory file structures and design philosophy which Linux borrows from

The first difference I noticed is the incomplete functionality of the OpenSolaris UI (or 'frontend' in software engineering jargon) . Some of the tasks can only be done at the command line.

For example, the UI only provides button for the user to shutdown the system, but there is no 'restart' button. If you want to restart the system, you need to open a text terminal, and type 'reboot'.

Another example will be the network setting. When OpenSolaris boots up, it has the Network Auto-magic daemon (nwand) running. If your network settings are unusual or you want to manually do some settings, you have to disable the nwan and enable the 'default' settings manually. When you click on the 'networking' icon, it will just ask you the network cannot be set while nwan is running and you have to disable nwan first. It then points you to read nwan(1m) and let you figure out the rest.

Guess where you can set all these? Command line of course.

svcadm disable svc:/network/physical:nwam
svcadm enable svc:/network/physical:default

Since the shell will accept shortest unique string, lazy smart user will do:

svcadm disable nwam
svcadm enable physical:default

For those of us who are used to text terminals and commands, OpenSolaris is something that we know and love. In fact, often command line is desirable since it is often more responsive, and tasks are easier to automate.

The 2008.05 release represents a good progress for OpenSolaris and I feel the underlying backend is reasonably stable. The remaining work for Sun and the OpenSolaris community will be:

• Port more packages to the OpenSolaris platform
• Enhance the functionalities of the frontend without sacrificing the versatility provided by the underlying infrastructure (i.e. tool chain and command sets)

One of the main attractions of OpenSolaris is the renown ZettaByte File System (zfs) which is really really sexy. According to Sun, zfs has self-healing and redundancy built right in the file system and this could easily make hardware backup solutions like RAID or tapes obsolete. If the claim is true, we are seeing yet another example where software slowly replaces hardware functionalities.

I have a zfs set up (one 80GB hdd) and now managed to export it as nfs. My plan will be get Samba to run on it and thus creating a central repository for both Windoze and Linux boxes.

Stay tuned.

OpenSolaris on VM

I came across VirtualBox, the virtual machine (VM) from Sun. Curious, I downloaded it under Ubuntu and installed OpenSolaris on it.



VirtualBox runs fine so far, except the P4 machine on which it runs on really shows its limit. The machine is crawling ever since the VM is active and I keep wondering if additional cores will help in this case.

Blogging on OpenSolaris

I mentioned a few days ago I downloaded the openSolaris live CD and will take it for a spin someday.

Indeed today is a very fine day where the usual badminton session was canceled, and girl friend is yet to be found.

I threw the openSolaris CD into the drive and booted it up.

Maybe I am really obsolete, but again I am amazed when it can detect most of the chipsets of my cheapo Dell laptop. It even automatically detected the wireless networks for me and boom here I am, blogging on openSolaris through the Live CD.

Here is a screen shot using the screen capture utility.




I plan to ditch the Fedora 8 in my another office machine and replace it with openSolaris, just for the sack of experimenting.

For now the weakness I have found is there are far fewer software packages available for download, and the package manager seems weaker than Ubuntu's.

Personally I feel that openSolaris has a lot of potential. If Sun plays the cards right, it could even match and compete with Apple's OS X one day (remember the underlying kernel of OS X is BSD-based, which has a very close lineage to Solaris).

Note so far the software development has mainly fallen into two extremes: open-source projects like the Linux kernel (i.e. the Bazaar), and closed-source projects like Windows (i.e. the Cathedral).

My take is both ends have their benefits and disadvantages, and a reasonable alternative will be to have a hybrid model that inherits the advantages from both models.

Advantages of
Open Source: Freedom, transparency, project decisions will be more on technical merits than business choices (e.g. barring competitors from entering by creating a obfuscated standard)

Closed Source: Centralized management of features, coherent development plan

In this respect, openSolaris seems promising, if, and only if it doesn't shift too much to either the open-source (not likely) or closed-source model.

Though open source purists are often skeptical when commercial entities involve in software projects, there are a number of high profile open source projects that fall under this category.

The QT toolkit is a very successful example where the software is maintained by a for-profit company. Users can choose to use the software for free provided they don't use it for commercial purpose, and agree to contribute back to the open source community. QT is owned by Trolltech, which in turn is recently bought over by Nokia.

Another example will be Mercurial, a distributed version control software, which is backed by Selenic.

In the long run, the introduction of openSolaris though further complicates the OS landscape, it nevertheless forces all the major OS vendors to reckon the reality, and in the end, it is us the consumers who will benefit in this war of desktops.