[geeks] Sun a possible takeover target - rumours

[Koyote]

> > I think he means make it better.
> >
> > Solaris on x86 lags behind Linux and the BSD UNIX systems in
> > installation, administration, and ease of building applications.
> >
> > I have tried to deploy Solaris x86 systems, but could not justify it
> > unless we actually had a Solaris-specific application.
> >
> > The problems I see with Solarix x86 are:
> >
> > * its slow, even on SMP, where I expected it to shine
> > * installation is just braindead compared to the others
> > * driver support is bad
> > * graphics driver support is DISMAL
> >
> > I think for a lot of applications, there just is no compelling reason to
> > run Solaris.
> >
> > On SPARC hardware, its a different story.  What I run there depends on a
> > few factors.  On single-CPU machines with good support, I'll run NetBSD.
> > Otherwise I'll run Solaris.  Solaris for SPARC even seeme to do OK on an
> > old Sun SS5.
> >
> > It's the x86 version that seems to have some troubles.
> >
> > I don't really see why its like that, since Sun should have the
> > resources to make things better.
> 
> You understood me. Solaris-x86 should make you fall in love. Then it will
> drag you into the SPARC world as your needs increase (as they *always* do).
> Look what Apple has done, it has made UNIX lovers out of the most
> computer-illiterate group of users around (when averaged as a whole). OS-X
> is slowly creating an interest in UNIX in a userbase that chose Apple for
> its "simplicity". Sun could do the same with Solaris-x86 and a good window
> manager.


Most of the arguments I get fomr unix savvy administrators who do
influence purchasing involve price for the disks and cpus. Even if a
P-IV will never match a US-III, if you can put 20 of them out there for
the price of a 2cpu sun box, it's hard to justify the sun box. 

Same with disk- and sun storage performance is *not* all that. I'ts
relatively stable and okay, but hardly worth paying 4 times what a Deel
SCSI hardware RAID machine with the same response time on support would
cost.

I never much saw solaris as a prime desktop OS. Yeah, a lot of engineers
I've know have used it at work, but it's never seemed to be a big
'office machine' platform. (Except at Sun)

-C