On Tue, Jul 8, 2008 at 10:30 AM, Roman Strobl <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Dennis Clarke wrote: >> >> If the target is to launch an open source UNIX distribution into the >> market space then perhaps that battle needs to be fought all over >> again. Are we going to land on the moon or just orbit the moon or >> orbit the earth? What is the mission objective here? Attract the >> developer? Attract the entry level user from the Windows world that >> has never seen a command prompt? We have not lost any lives. The >> prototype was good. The "launch" in May was pretty okay too. So let's >> just talk a little bit about the needs and the wants and then remember >> that it isn't rocket science. >> > > I've been asking this question myself and the target audience for 2008.05 > were mainly developers using Intel laptops. We wanted to have something done > as soon as possible so that they can start experimenting with it.
Exactly ... that was my feeling. Get something working and working well. I think that is what we have today. > Another > important target audience are students - we want the next generation of > students to know and use OpenSolaris. Make OpenSolaris an option. I think that you could drive several hundred university students into a large auditorium today and then ask them how many know about Solaris and you will be lucky to see two hands go up. The university faculty in some universities *may* have heard of it but never seen it. Oh yes .. we run payroll on that. Maybe. Get out of the university setting and then things change. Based on my own research I can tell you that people look at me like I'm a fish the moment that I mention anything outside of Windows. They have heard of Linux. Maybe even seen it. > Right now the goal is not to attract > entry level Windows users (we're too far away to reach that audience). That would be akin to landing on the surface of mars. The technical battle is just way to far out there and the ROI just isn't worth it in my opinion. I have been there and tried to show Solaris/OpenSolaris to people from the Windows world. You may as well go out into the field and kick a dead horse. I have literally ( are you hearing me on this? please listen up? ) driven across southern Ontario with a 1U rack style dual CPU server in the trunk of my car to give it to an old friend. Seven hours of driving. He wanted to see this OpenSolaris stuff I was talking about and he is hard core Windows to the hilt. He has spent years doing migrations of other email systems to Microsoft Exchange and setting up active directory services along with God-only-knows-what other evil. I already had the basic installation done on that server for him. When I returned two weeks later, the machine was off and he had not gotten any further. There simply is no way to get started. No real docs. I don't mean the technical stuff at docs.sun.com or the various blogs all over the place with info about core file analysis and dtrace script thrills. Windows people look at that and just switch off. I then tried to walk through a complete installation of production grade Solaris 10 because there is a lot more documentation out there for it. I had to explain every step. He took notes and fetched a calculator to see how I was allocating space for disk slices and making room for a ZFS filesystem. He made a pot of coffee and we worked until the late hours. I tried to stay on target and explain the basic UNIX concepts as well as install a compiler as well as get Hello World done on the spot. At the end of all that he asked me what the hell was the point? He knew that he could get all that he wanted with a copy of Windows XP Pro or really do the trick with Windows Server. No need for heavy lifting of documentation and he just didn't get the point about an operating system that had been around forever. That really knocked the wind out of my sails right there. I drove home on that second trip with a lot of time on my hands because the CD player in my car no longer worked. It was late at night and I was out in the middle of the country with nothing but open skies. I tried to think about the real problem. What was the real issue here? It wasn't lack of motivation because they guy really tried to read through man pages. That was a mistake right there. In order to grapple the issue of reaching the new user we need to get off our butts and actually spend time with them. Sit down and watch them and listen to what they are saying. Also, we need to see their pain when they stare at the installation process and the setup of new filesystems. Then comes the damn command line. A thought struck me. Quite literally on that drive home I was hit with a revelation. The university students that use Linux for their programming homework are way more technical then the best Windows users and they *probably* don't want to use Linux either. That was my gut feeling. It is all too much like work. It doesn't matter if we are talking Linux or UNIX. Once upon a time there was no real choice and we were forced to install a UNIX system even for departmental level things. There was always some head geek that took care of that server because it is user hostile by design. Why would I think anything has changed in that respect. > The goal for 2008.11 and future releases will be broaden to start to target > deployers as well (hence SPARC support, improvements in the installer, > etc.). Some day OpenSolaris 20xx.yy will be branched and a stable version of > Solaris will be created on top of OpenSolaris. I look forwards to the Sparc versions. I have run headlong into a brick wall on a few occasions because a user looks at me and asks "if Sun makes the Sparc and the fancy flying Niagara that you love so much and this is their big open source thing then why don't they have a version for Sparc?" I don't know how to answer that at all. > Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but this is the message I've been > hearing from Tim Cramer. That is the message I hear all over the place. Dennis _______________________________________________ indiana-discuss mailing list [email protected] http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/indiana-discuss
