Hari Sundararajan wrote:

>
>What exactly are Solaris and OpenSolaris? Now, coming from a Linux world I 
>know Linux is actually just the kernel, and the tools are available from 
>various sources such as GNU, X.Org, apache and so on. 
>
>  
>
Start with the project site, http://www.opensolaris.org/os/

>What about Solaris and OpenSolaris? Is OpenSolaris too just a kernel? What 
>about the userland then? 
>  
>
There are a number of distributions based on the Solaris kernel, see
http://www.opensolaris.org/os/about/distributions/

>At the SC06 conference Sun handed out Sun Studio CD/DVDs and also Solaris 10 
>DVDs. In what way are these Solaris 10 DVDs related to OpenSolaris? 
>
>  
>
Solaris 10 is where Open Solaris started.  Various features originally
introduced in OpenSolaris have been back ported to Solaris 10 releases
(ZFS for instance).

>Now, let's assume I want to try OpenSolaris. With Linux distros, I am used to 
>downloading an ISO, burning it, and booting with it. What should I download 
>here?  
>
>  
>
Pick a distribution.  Sun's distribution, the community release, is the
most complete.

>Again, is OpenSolaris a complete distribution by itself, including the kernel 
>and the user/developer tools? Do I get a Gnome/KDE and a Bash shell at boot 
>stage? 
>Or is OpenSolaris not a distribution at all, and I am completely mistaken in 
>my understanding?
>
>  
>
Each offers its own userland experience.  the community release is Sun's
route for Solaris.

>Finally, what about support? Again, as a regular Linux user I post queries and 
>replies in various distribution specific forums/IRC, and in general have a 
>great opinion about community support. Do I get something similar with 
>OpenSolaris? And how does one contribute back? 
>
>  
>
There are many lists, relating to different aspects of the project.  See
http://www.opensolaris.org/os/discussions/

>Feel free to answer with as much technical jargon as you want. I am not your 
>average desktop user who knows nothing beyond word processing, emails and web 
>surfing. I am just curious to learn more about the Solaris platform, 
>especially considering I use so much and so many of Sun's products.
> 
>  
>
Spend some time on the site and all of your questions will be answered.

Ian
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