Bonum Certa Men Certa

OpenIndiana Hipster Frustrations. (Revisiting Solaris, Non-Linux Systems, CentOS Stream)

Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer.

OpenIndiana Hipster Frustrations. (Revisiting Solaris)



I finally downloaded OpenIndiana Hipster, which is a forked continuation of OpenSolaris, from before Oracle shut it down after buying Sun Microsystems.



After reading that they still kept Solaris going, and had packaged an assortment of modern desktop software (and even SeaMonkey!), and had the ZFS file system and (very pretty) Nimbus GTK theme on Mate Desktop, I simply had to try it.



I was hoping for a longer post, but something happened as I was booting it on my older laptop and it bailed to “Single User Mode” and you can’t really do anything with it that way, so that was a let down.



As far as I know, if you get dropped to Single User Mode by SMF (the init system), it means something very bad has happened, and it happened quite fast. So pretty much, that laptop works in an “emergency recovery mode”, as root, on a console. 😛



I may try booting it in VirtualBox and see if it’ll run on that.



(KDE doesn’t have GNOME Boxes, but GNOME Boxes is so awful I always ended up with VirtualBox anyway.)



(If not, then they’ve made the UNIX answer to ReactOS.)



I actually had two OpenSolaris machines running at once when Sun had Ian Murdock, who founded the Debian project, working for them as Vice President of Emerging Platforms.



He resigned when Oracle took over the company. They probably could have found him a new role at Oracle, but it wouldn’t have been working on anything open source, probably. So I don’t know if they pushed him out or if he decided to leave. But Solaris was becoming very usable on the desktop while he was at Sun.



It’s a huge shame what happened to him later. Driven to suicide due to police misconduct.



He deserves to be remembered better than that way, but unfortunately, that’s how the police operate. They probably did such a number on the poor fellow that there’s no telling what he was thinking.



Solaris was as far as I’ve ever gotten in using a non-Linux *nix system for a daily driver.



At the time, thanks to his work (which was wasted by Oracle), it worked really well on PCs and it looked like it may have been a rival to Linux eventually.



Most of the non-Linux *nix systems really don’t really prioritize desktop/laptop computer users as a “use case”, although they may “have X11 and some desktop environments”, few people would ever want to use them as such.



It’s not like I’ve ever been married to the idea of sticking to Linux, but I don’t think any other OS really even cares what the desktop experience is like on a PC.



I’ve never even found working network drivers on FreeBSD on any computer I’ve tried using it on.



There was a desktop-focused FreeBSD called PC-BSD that I tried a long time ago, but while it detected and configured most of my hardware, no network drivers.



And, they’ve just sort of “spackled” in “support” for PC users throughout the years if your idea of “support” is “buy an Nvidia card, use the proprietary driver, and find some Windows driver to stick in the BSD kernel for networking”.



They had a name for Windows (NDIS) networking support. Project Evil.



Today I also ran into this, by “Bill Paul”, who worked on Project Evil.



I think a humorous rant like this would definitely violate some stupid Code of Censorship in “Linux” projects today, so I don’t know if the “F*** ’em if they can’t take a joke.” mentality is still around at FreeBSD, but that’s definitely a point in their column.



The main problem with sticking proprietary modules and Windows drivers in your OS is that now you have security vulnerabilities, bugs, and workarounds for bugs, and the OS vendor can’t even help you if they wanted to. So it just rapidly devolves into this big shitpile that nobody can fix.



The “pragmatism” of telling users to use blobs is that you’re offloading lack of development resources onto the user, where it becomes their problem.



I ran into a post by a Google “engineer” about why CentOS Stream is more appropriate for enterprise use than CentOS was and how everyone that doesn’t like it is a “cargo cult” for wanting the same binaries that Red Hat’s customers get.



Almost like they’re making a case that CentOS Stream is “enterprise” ready, they point out that Twitter (X) is using it.



Twitter (X) hasn’t been noted for being highly reliable after Musk bought it.



Elon Musk has been closing down data centers on not paying his landlords or Web hosting though, so to be fair, it’s hard to tell how much of this is really the fault of CentOS Stream.



I have not noticed anyone from NASA talking about internal usage of Stream. They were using CentOS previously, at NASA.



CentOS Stream is, unreliable in the sense that you aren’t getting the same binaries that RHEL customers get (or at least something very, very close), like you were with CentOS.



If you absolutely need something RHEL-like, you should look into Rocky or Alma, but if you don’t, you should get a distribution like Debian where they show you their code and everyone gets the same binaries.



Red Hat engineers go on and on about making their system “valuable” by adding FIPS-compliance crap to get federal contracts. I’m not really impressed by “security” standards that the NSA has been caught backdooring, and which Windows can meet, so they too can get contracts.



One of the first things OpenBSD did when they forked OpenSSL after countless security disasters and tons of bad code in OpenSSL made it impractical to rely on, is, they deleted the FIPS crap.



(Also, things like DOS support and a big-endian x86…LOL)



Musk can’t afford to pay any of their vendors. He’s lost so much money on Twitter (X) already that he’s daring people to actually do anything about not paying his bills.



He’s a deadbeat. A fraud and a deadbeat.



If your landlord is suing you and you’re daring the city to do something about the unlawful building modifications and zoning issues, then maybe your risk appetite for something like CentOS Stream is high.



This doesn’t really change anything about the issue that IBM is very much opposed to the GNU GPL and comes as close to violating it as their lawyers think they can get away with.



For a while I had a PC running Scientific Linux because the High Energy Physics Labs were cloning RHEL themselves and decided to make it available to everyone.



It was very stable and well-polished.



They ended up telling their users to go run CentOS.



Well, I sure hope they’re happy trying to get any actual work done with this “rolling release” nonsense.



Hey, if it’s good enough for Twitter (X)!



Recent Techrights' Posts

Google as a 'Bullshit Generator' Disguised as Intelligence
It'll probably cause Google to get sued a lot, both by individuals and companies
As Expected, Google in the UK Now Experiments With Slop Instead of Web Search
At this point more people ought to stop and think: Does Google's search engine deserve trust?
Sabotaging Linux on Behalf of Microsoft With UEFI 'Secure' Boot (De Facto Remote 'Kill Switch'), Then Defaming, Stalking and Harassing Critics of 'Secure' Boot for 12 Years, Then SLAPPing Their Spouses and Them
The sorts of stubborn lunatics we've been dealing with
 
For Second Day in a Row, Top Story in The Register MS is "Microsoft Says"
The editor in chief exercises control over everybody else
LLMs as Attack Method Against Free Software and Programming
DDoS in "hey hi" (slop) clothing
Stability and Reliability, Backward Compatibility
I don't fancy relying on social control media as "sources"
What "the News" Looks Like in 2025
The "says" (or "sez") phenomenon
History Will Be Distorted, Sometimes Intentionally, Under the Guise of Intelligence (Manipulated/Curated Slop)
Militarised misinformation or military-grade chaff is a national security threat, even domestically
Financial Engineering Companies: A Company Worth 4 Trillion Dollars Would Not Borrow 100+ Billion Dollars at Interest Rates Like Today's
Many headlines perpetuate the lie Microsoft had just 2 waves of layoffs
Microsoft is Googlebombing "Linux" While Paying Former News Sites to Publish SPAM
How much lower will IDG sink?
The Data You Don't Give Away is Your Advantage
stop sharing data that does not need to be shared
Being Obedient or Doing the Right Thing
The world always changes for the better because of people who think "Outside the Box", not the cogs
Gemini Links 01/08/2025: Happy Hacking Keyboards and New Gemini Arrivals
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 31, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 31, 2025
Moving on in Techrights, Geeks Gonna Geek
In the coming weeks we plan to focus (as we explained last week) on patents, GNU/Linux issues, and the occasional philosophical essays
Slopwatch: Google News Has Lost the Plot
Almost the majority of articles returned for "Linux" are fakes
Links 31/07/2025: Australia Restricts YouTube Access, Personal Privacy at Risk
Links for the day
Links 31/07/2025: Spotify Collapses and Spotify Now Forcing Some Users to Undergo Face-Scanning
Links for the day
A Lot of Supposedly "Successful" Businesses Are Just Debt-Racking Vessels Without Any Prospects of Financial Sustainability
The probability of bankruptcy of any business is more than 0%
theregister.com: The Voice of Microsoft US?
It basically sold out
Yes, You Can Love and Adore Things Whilst Also Criticising Them
Is society being divided and groomed/primed to be resistant to constructive criticism?
Links 31/07/2025: War in Ukraine, Security News, and Cyberattacks Against Journalists on the Rise
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/07/2025: Fake Money and Gemini Diaries
Links for the day
An Illusion and Cult Worship of Magnitude (Ubiquity as "Victory")
GNU has been around for over 40 years and it'll likely continue to exist for another 40 (in some form)
Google: From Pointing to Relevant Sites to Pointing to Social Control Media to Actually Parroting Social Control Media as "Facts"
Google has become a misinformation company
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 30, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 30, 2025
How to Report Apple Layoffs Without Saying the "L" Word
don't look for the "L" word
Wall Street Does Not Care About Microsoft's Impending (August) Layoffs, It Believes Lies From Microsoft, Whose Debt Grows Rapidly
If Microsoft is doing so well and swimming in money, why so many cuts (about 29,000 layoffs so far this year)?
Wayland Considered Harmful (to GNU/Linux Adoption)
it's not limited to games
My Experience With Judges Has been Positive, But We Must Still Pursue SLAPP Reform in the United Kingdom
We believe it'll be a "feather in the cap" if we can help change laws in the UK to better protect investigative reporters
Slopwatch Makes the Web Better
Remember what happened to BetaNews?
Slopwatch: Google News is Pumping in Lots of Web Traffic Into Fake Sites That Say "Linux"
somewhere between 30% and 40% of today's "news" about "Linux", as seen by Google News, is LLM slop
Links 30/07/2025: Climate Calamities Highlighted, Kyrgyzstan Crackdown on Expression/Freedoms
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/07/2025: Watson’s List of Limits, Lysenko 2000
Links for the day
Riot for peace & Love: Catholic Influencers and Digital Missionaries welcome Jubilee of Youth
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Some People See What Others See... But Only 40 Years Later
When people deviate from "the norm" they typically get ridiculed and dismissed as "crazy"
Links 30/07/2025: Tea Class Action and Google Killing the Web With Slop
Links for the day
Last Month Our IRC Community Turned 17
Funnily enough we never missed a single day when it comes to logging
"The Unix Kernel"
Linux was inspired by MINIX
The Register Relays Microsoft Marketing, Dubs That Marketing "Research"
Hours ago they did a "Microsoft sez" piece
Dealing With Sociopaths, Liars, and Cranks
A dysfunctional society such as this would never develop
Not Owning Mobile Phones
It's not about resistance; it's common sense
Google 'Search' is Fast Becoming No Better Than Social Control Media Infested With Bots
Google emerged almost 30 years ago as a company looking to organise the Web and direct people towards informative pages. That Google is dead.
PCLinuxOS Had Functional Backups Before the House Fire, the Site Will be Restored in New Webhost
This is the direction we want for GNU/Linux, not some IBM sales strategy
Gemini Links 30/07/2025: Two Sides of Me and "Hooked on Cosmic Voyage"
Links for the day
Microsoft Will Continue Resorting to Crimes in Order to Keep GNU/Linux Usage Down
It is a real problem and we'll revisit it later this week
GAFAM 'Revolving Doors' at The Register and a "Bribe Price List"
"an analyst at Microsoft"
Microsoft Rapidly Shrinking (No, It's Not About Efficiency, It's About Unbearable Debt)
We'll soon see how much debt grew in the past quarter
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 29, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, July 29, 2025
Corruption is the Standard Operating Procedure at the European Patent Office (EPO)
The EPO is a dictatorship that stains Europe
Local Staff Committee Munich (LSCMN) at the European Patent Office (EPO) Requests an Urgent Meeting to Avoid Abolishing the Office
This is dictatorship led by the most corrupt
Slopwatch: Fake 'Linux' 'Articles' and Spamfarms/Slopfarms
at least 5 fake articles in one day