Member Avatar for ardentsunshine

Sun is offering Solaris 10 for download. I have only used linux. Is Solaris better or linux in your opinion. Which is easier to config etc.

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Short answer: there is no single "better" choice — pick the OS that matches the job. The replies from and point in the right directions: Solaris and Linux take different design routes and attract different uses. Solaris 10 ships with several enterprise-grade features (observability, lightweight virtualization, a modern on-disk model, and a service-management framework) that make it attractive for production servers; Linux gives a much wider choice of distributions, drivers, packages, and community help, which often makes day-to-day setup easier for general-purpose use.

Key practical differences to check before choosing: whether the software you need is supported on Solaris, whether your hardware (especially non-Sun x86 boards) has drivers, how you want to manage services and updates (Solaris uses SMF and SVR4-style packages; Linux distros use systemd/sysv + distro package managers), and what kind of vendor support you require. For performance debugging and live diagnostics, Solaris tools (DTrace, Zones, ZFS features) are powerful; for breadth of packages, out-of-the-box hardware support, and many desktop/server tutorials, Linux wins.

Actionable checklist: test Solaris 10 in a VM for the exact workload, try installing your application stack, verify networking/storage drivers, and run simple failover or service-restart scenarios. Check current licensing and support terms before deploying — Sun made Solaris 10 downloadable, but production support and long-term commercial guarantees are provided under paid contracts; Linux vendors also offer paid support if required. Finally, consider maintenance and staff skills: use what the team can manage reliably.

This thread is from 2006 — distribution, licensing, and support models have changed since then (and ownership of Solaris later changed). Verify up-to-date licensing and platform support documentation before committing to a production rollout.

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Member Avatar for extofer

Solaris "I hear" is more complex. I's also has more virgin UNIX in it... so depends what you'd like, Solaris is closer to UNIX moreso than Linux.

Member Avatar for alc6379

It all depends on what you're looking to do. Solaris has a reputation for being STABLE as all get out, and almost BULLETPROOF. If you're looking for a secure, stable, trustworthy platform to put your work into, Solaris 10 is a good way to go. Keep in mind, though, that if you use it for commercial purposes, you're still going to have to pay.

Linux can be secure. Linux can be stable. Linux can make the most out of old hardware. There's a ton of reasons to choose either, but one thing to keep in mind is that the two operating systems can usually interoperate with one another fairly well.

Member Avatar for ardentsunshine

It all depends on what you're looking to do. Solaris has a reputation for being STABLE as all get out, and almost BULLETPROOF. If you're looking for a secure, stable, trustworthy platform to put your work into, Solaris 10 is a good way to go. Keep in mind, though, that if you use it for commercial purposes, you're still going to have to pay.

Linux can be secure. Linux can be stable. Linux can make the most out of old hardware. There's a ton of reasons to choose either, but one thing to keep in mind is that the two operating systems can usually interoperate with one another fairly well.

Wait on the sun website I thought they were giving out free licenses even for buisness.

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