[OpenAFS] Re: Overview? Linux filesystem choices

[David Boyes]

> Technically you also have Nexenta, though I personally don't know how
> much better it actually is.=20

It's a lot nicer than OpenSolaris in that it doesn't force you to deal with=
 the sometimes frustratingly antiquated Solaris userspace utilities (there =
are a lot of things that go back into the Bad Old Days of strict SVID, whic=
h Nexenta doesn't have to do). I also find that using APT to maintain the s=
ystem is a godsend - it "just works" (as opposed to pkgadd and/or IPS -- ki=
nda neat idea, but did we really need Yet Another Packaging System?). For a=
 system that needs updating as often as OpenSolaris (RIP) did, using APT wa=
s/is a lot better.=20

> Recent developments have also made me
> wonder
> about the possibility of a Debian GNU/Illumos or whatever it would be
> called.

The key will be whether they can get to the point of a totally Oracle-free =
build in a timely manner. There are still some bits of illumos that are OCO=
/closed-source that they have to write replacements for that are non-trivia=
l, like the kernel lock manager and a lot of the crypto stuff.=20

It'd be quite interesting as an appliance operating system, but without the=
 mainline "Solaris" name link, I doubt it'll survive commercially.=20