Ref: http://www.gnusolaris.org/gswiki
The menu:
1. FreeSpace 2 and FlightGear
2. GNU/Solaris Nexenta OS
3. Blastware's GRUB2 port
4. Genesi Pegasos II ODW
After the last episode, we knew that we should have at
least 512MB RAM in our test systems. The newer Genesis
Pegasos II comes with 512MB RAM by default so no
worries there. We wanted to solve the DRI-enable X
driver issues since ATI currently didn't provide a PPC
video driver on their website for Linux or Solaris.
Some thoughts were if we had an ATI driver for Solaris
x86, we could at least use that as an evaluation
benchmark with the Pegasos II.
Oranges and Apples, I tell ya.
The point was that Dennis and Cyril over at
Blastware/Blastwave.org had ported GRUB2 to the
Pegasos. No small feat, but they did it. We all have
Linux running on the Pegasos to show off things and
prototype, yet after I loaded up the Nexenta OS on a
x86 test box - the next project was to have a
OpenSolaris distro loading up on the Pegasos II.
GNU/Solaris is much akin to Debian on the Pegasos II
so the thought was - why not just make life easy and
use the common denominator between GNU/Linux and
GNU/Solaris while having the largest supporters of
Solaris and Linux open sources organizations to work
with on the project?
Yet, humans like exciting things. Multimedia-type
things. So, I thought of pushing the Genesi Pegasos II
to the limit. What we are presented with is stable
hardware to develop software on that is based on the
PowerPC platform. Yet, the hardware is UNDERutilized
at the moment. A lot of the power of Genesi Pegasos
II's hardware is not being tapped into which is
possible with OpenSolaris and many professional
Solaris developers.
So, we'll either leave the year 2005 with powerPC
version of OpenSolaris on the Genesi Pegasos II or
not. A PPC version of Schillix or Nexenta or Belenix.
Yet, a GNU/Solaris model with Debian-style package
management and over 15,000+ stable open source
packages seems like the current roadmap for some
people.
For now, just pick up or review a Genesi Pegasos II
for the holidays - maybe even at an upcoming
OpenSolaris or PowerPC user group meeting. Giraffe
screensavers and OpenSolaris T-Shirt artists are
welcome.
~ Ken Mays
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