SOLARIS LIVE DVD must be more XP like for new Generation

Discussion in 'all things UNIX' started by cortez, Nov 6, 2008.

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  1. cortez

    cortez Registered Member

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    If Unix/Linux hopes to take over any real home-user market-share it must be more like XP (along with it's many categories and functions ) if they hope ( and I wish they do) to snag this newer generation of OS users.

    My grand kid has just spent 5 hours getting Solaris Live DVD (the CD she told me could not hold the live version [ problems in getting an image copied ect.] ) to boot up Fire Fox. The problem is that Solaris does not explain well it's options and what to do in a un-confusing manner .

    She tried Linspire (it was on special at 1 cent!! on CD at Microcenter) and it installed and booted up in about in 10 or so minuets and with only one click she got on the Internet real quick . Linspire is more like XP than Solaris.

    They must remember that XP has become the STANDARD and if they are to be easily used their OS's must be XP like (at least in most respects).

    DOS-like commands must be put into a multiple choice like format ( or some cleaver alternative) as this new generation have no notion of writing commands at all.. My tales of the days of writing in machine language does not even pique their interest.

    I know this is unfortunate but for the younger home user it is a must.

    I hope that Microsoft does not keep their monopoly but if it remains relatively easy to use ( relative, as in no-real competition existing for younger users) it will stay so.

    Competition makes everything better in the long run, and I hope there will be many competing OS's in the near future.
     
  2. lodore

    lodore Registered Member

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    solaris or opensolaris?
    solaris is a pain to install.
    opensolaris is very easy to install.
    btw opensolaris 2008.11 is out soon.

    for ease of use most linux distros are getting better.
    such as opensuse,ubuntu,mandriva etc.

    doesnt really need to be like xp. just needs to have GUI avaliable for all actions.
    more experienced users can still use the commandline. most users do want to have to search for ages on google to find out what commands they need to type in to install something that on windows takes 1 or 2 clicks.
     
  3. cortez

    cortez Registered Member

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    Yes you are right.

    And thanks for the more friendly alternatives, I will pass them on to the 'Super Rug Rat'.

    I have tried to get both my children and their children to overcome their hatred of command lines but they look at me as just another Alzheimer sad case :doubt: .
     
  4. iceni60

    iceni60 ( ^o^)

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    why don't you just use xp if that's what you want? linux is fine as it is and will be ruined if it turns in to xp. personally i don't think linux needs more users, it's perfect as it is. i'm writing this from my main desktop running linux, in 24 days support will be stopped on this distro, that's over 2 years using the same os day after day and it's still running as fast as the day i installed it. if linux ran a bit more like xp i'd still be waiting for it to boot up and when it did boot everything would run 1000 times slower, plus i'd have lots of security apps running slowing things down even more too.

    i think anyone who wants xp should stick with xp and people who want linux to be more like xp don't know much about linux, i don't mean that to sound rude i really think that.
     
  5. farmerlee

    farmerlee Registered Member

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    Hey if somebody wants something like XP then use XP. Its been said many times before, linux ain't windows. Personally i wouldn't have chosen solaris for a first time distro, one of the more popular distros is a better alternative imo.
     
  6. jrmhng

    jrmhng Registered Member

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    I think they are working hard on making open solaris a lot more friendly though.
     
  7. Kerodo

    Kerodo Registered Member

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    I think to achieve greater popularity, Linux needs to be easy to use out of the box for most people, but I don't think that means it has to be anything like XP.
     
  8. farmerlee

    farmerlee Registered Member

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    I had a play with 2008.5 and it wasn't too bad actually, perhaps the upcoming release will be the breakthrough they're looking for.
     
  9. Arup

    Arup Guest

    Very true.


    If Linux goes XP, it will totally loose its flavor and its loyal following. That doesnt' mean it has to be less friendly or easy to install. However distros like Ubuntu, OzOS, SuSE are easier to install than XP as unlike a Windows installation where after a fresh install one has to do drive hunting and installation, Linux distros work right out of the box as all the necessary drivers are being handled by the Kernel itself.
     
  10. cortez

    cortez Registered Member

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    You put it the way I should have put it: easy to use out of the box.

    I like the differences of the different distros but I was addressing the problem of getting younger users to also use Unix/Linux OS's by overcoming this exact stumbling block (from their perspective).

    There are some distros that already are ready to go out of the box, but Solaris poses problems when installing in a multiboot with multiple XPs ( thus the Live DVD issue).

    http://content.hccfl.edu/pollock/AUnix1/DualBoot.htm

    SOLARIS bootloader.JPG

    The attachment is from the above listed site. As one can see there are many things one must do to get it dual booted with XP and this turns off would be Solaris users (especially pre teens and young teens).

    I was not trying to start a range war (some Unix/Linux users seem to be easily ticked off) . I only wanted to point out that ease of use is needed to breach the divide between Windows and Unix (especially multibooting).
     
    Last edited: Nov 7, 2008
  11. Kerodo

    Kerodo Registered Member

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    Yep, understood, and agreed..... :)
     
  12. Arup

    Arup Guest

    This is where Ubuntu with WUBI, SuSE, PCLOS excels, dual booting is so easy with them.
     
  13. wilbertnl

    wilbertnl Registered Member

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    OpenSolaris is a very potential option when you like to live without the dominating OS. It's ZFS file system is secure and feature rich. The Image Packaging System makes updating the software a snap.

    I don't think that it's the interface that keeps people using Windows, I think it's the software.
    Games, office suites and graphic applications. I myself haven't found a decent alternative for MS Money of Quicken.
     
  14. wilbertnl

    wilbertnl Registered Member

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  15. lodore

    lodore Registered Member

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  16. wilbertnl

    wilbertnl Registered Member

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    That is something I would do.
     
  17. iceni60

    iceni60 ( ^o^)

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  18. jrmhng

    jrmhng Registered Member

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    I dont theres a reason that opensolaris should be more like any other specific operating system. Just have to be useful to a certain niche.
     
  19. Mrkvonic

    Mrkvonic Linux Systems Expert

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  20. TerryWood

    TerryWood Registered Member

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    Hi All

    Huangker got it right Linux is a niche product.

    Windows is problematic, because of the huge number of people using it and hackers. Linux is problematic because of the large number of distros/developers that are so uncoordinated. (I cannot configure any distro to use a Voyager 105 USB modem) Of course Linux aficionados tell me to get a router. Not that they or Linux should adapt to the market. (Modern day Luddites) There are loads of us out there that use USB modems, even in 2008, that would like to use Linux, or at least try it.

    You can criticise Microsoft with my blessing, but Linux is is in its own time warp. Happy to nibble at the edges, but, missing the big picture.

    Terry
     
  21. wilbertnl

    wilbertnl Registered Member

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    "pfexec pkg image-update" will get you updated to the release candidate.
    It's just for CD downloaders interesting to get a heads-up.

    This approach gives you an impression of IPS and ZFS at once...
     
  22. lodore

    lodore Registered Member

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    Hello,
    I'm not sure if anyone here would know but I will ask anyway.

    the idea with ZFS or as i understand is that there is pools of data and no partitions. so if a cetain area wants space and there is that space available it is given (unless quotes are reached). If for whatever reason wanted to reinstall solaris, how would it know which section of information you want to keep? with other file systems its easy. you seperate it and have say 20gb / partition and say 60gb /home partition. so you just format / and make sure you put a mount point for /home and do not format it.

    I did try this and wasn't sure quite how it worked.
    On the virtual machine I first installed Opensolaris and then decided I wanted to install the latest Solaris 10 which now also has the ability to use ZFS as sole file system. It told me there was already pools of data do I wish to keep them?
    Since opensolaris was default and not changed I selected no. I wonder if I selected yes it would give me more detail on what to keep and what not to keep.

    Do not get me wrong I love the idea of ZFS file system. instant snapshaps are fantastic.

    I'm sure eventually Microsoft will have something similar which will really just be a copy of ZFS.

    Of course in the Unix world as such the companies share technologies, For example Sun created the amazing ZFS but is allowing other companies to port it to there operating systems. If Microsoft had created such an amazing file system no doubt they would of kept it to themselves.
     
  23. emmpe

    emmpe Registered Member

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    But maybe the world needs more Linux? If you prefer Linux to be the OS of a choosen elite, I'm afraid you're bound for a big disappointment sooner or later. Linux is gaining ground, since it is the obvious choice for poor people around the globe. For us westerners it's not that we want to use XP, it's that we have to, a lot of us. The reason is that there is some heavy stuff that can't be done with Linux due to its lack of suitable software, which in turn depends on its current lack of a wide user base. This will change, I'm sure, not in my lifetime, but probably in yours (judging from the quotation above).
     
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