On Tue, 2007-08-07 at 12:57 -0700, Alan DuBoff wrote: > On Fri, 3 Aug 2007, Matthew Gardiner wrote: > > > Yes, it has changed - but I'm just frustrated at the lack of progress > > outside of the 'basics'. > > The next meeting of SVOSUG will feature a presentation by the Xorg group, > notably Alan Coopersmith, showing the latest Xorg changes and/or what is > in store, but to also show Compiz. > > Your comments got me to thinking, and I have really come to the conclusion > that Solaris has made some incredible improvements on the desktop, IMO. > > 1) The new-boot architecture brought us into the modern age of booting.
Which was great - but need I be negative, but what took so long? it took *that* long for Sun to realise their x86 booting royally sucked? > 2) Xorg replaced Xsun as the X server, and we have more support for video > than we ever had. But the hickory Xsun still remains - pkgconfig not located in once place which causes all manner of problems when compiling applications which use pkgconfig for dependency checking. It needs to be moved completely to Xorg and the SPARC driver writers to be given a shock with a cattle prod. > 3) RealPlayer - This was a long and hard battle, and finally we have a > RealPlayer that is included in Solaris and/or can be added to OpenSolaris. True - but more needs to be done; its a pathetic excuse for a player when compared to what the Windows one looks like and the features that it has. Its like comparing a rolls royce with all the accessories to a fiat bambina. > 4) Flash...another long and hard battle which I was involved in before I > joined Sun. We have had some problems with the current Flash 9 being > delivered, but it is out now and we're in ok shape on this, IMO. True - I'll hand you that, but I question the long term survival of it given Adobes, what I call, platform bigotry. > 5) NWAM - this will change the way folks use their laptops, the way they > connect, and will elliminate much of the confusion in system configuration > that prevents new folks from being able to use their systems more easily. There is nwam but doesn't even have the ability to come back and request the user when the password is wrong; in my case I changed my password on my router and ended up screwed because there was no way to flush the existing setting from nwam to force redetection and requesting for the password again. > 6) JDS - while not my favorite desktop, it has moved Solaris away from the > old CDE, and this is good for many of the new adopters of > Solaris/OpenSolaris. There have been quite a few developments in JDS and > quite a bit has changed. I like JDS, but the bugs *need* to be fixed; take 2.18.x, it was shipped knowing full well the albumart plugin for rhythmbox crashed the application - for instance. No one rebuilds the desktop periodically as to allow people to update their JDS environment with the latest bug fixes without needing to download a whole operating system and pray that its actually been rebuilt that week for that particular spin of SXCE. > 7) Additional desktop software such as GIMP, gphoto, evince, etc...this > has made it easier for the bulk of folks to use their Solaris/OpenSolaris > systems to interact with web work, image editing, and incorporating their > digital pics. > > 8) StarOffice - was not even being built for Solaris on x86 when I joined > Sun more than 4 years ago. It has been packaged and on the system for the > past 2 years at least. This is a huge improvement and we have an office > suite that allows us to function in the real world. > > 9) Mozilla, Firefox, Thunderbird - also not being built for > Solaris/OpenSolaris when I came to Sun. I pounded on the folks responsible > for it and made them change their ways by starting to build the packages > and distributing them on my own. We have current versions in new builds > now, and it's setup with flash to work. This is a HUGE improvement over > what we had 2 years ago. > > 10) wifi - people laughed when you mentioned wifi on Solaris a couple > years ago. Now we have several decent drivers that allow us to connect > over wireless networks, and using WEP as well. One asks, if there is a relationship with Intel, why isn't there a 4965 driver yet for Solaris - this isn't slamming Solaris programmers (I ranted on more than one occasion about how they're over worked and understaffed) but questioning the point of the 'Intel relationship' which is no better than the 'screw you' relationship that AMD has with Sun and their refusal to play ball when it comes to working on ATI drivers. > I can probably think of more, given time, but this list above I believe > represents an incredible leap for Solaris, and certainly on x86. Sun has > shown that they are in the x86 space for the long haul, even the execs > speak it on stage when they give presentations these days. The executives can speak - but I want them to go out, purchase a laptop, without any help, and install Solaris without an assistance. Thats the benchmark that needs to be used. People can talk - heck, i can get up in front of customers and lie through my teeth, its not difficult. The question is, do management *really* know how much resources *need* to be invested in Solaris - besides what the bean counters and a few x86 hating bigots scream from the cheap seats? > Do you really think that this is all a part of the "basics"? These, IMO, > are huge improvements to bring out system/desktop to the masses, and > Solaris/OpenSolaris continues to move forward. OpenSound for example - when is it being merged? the sound API right now is a disaster, I can't even record using any of the graphical applications bundled with Solaris - that is how truly terrible it is. Like I said, if management knew and experienced the pain, they would realise "oh bugger, getting rid of 5,000 people was rather stupid when considering what needs be done". Matthew _______________________________________________ opensolaris-discuss mailing list [email protected]
