On Fri, Sep 16, 2016 at 11:22 PM, Tim Mooney <tim.moo...@ndsu.edu> wrote: > In regard to: [OpenIndiana-discuss] newbie questions, Lev said (at > 10:51pm...: > >> Ok, New (not even a) user here, please be gentle. >> >> So I'm considering installing oi as my primary OS. Before I do I have a >> few >> questions. >> >> 1. Is the whole system is package based? Like Linux, unlike FreeBSD. > > > Yes. OI uses the "Image Package System", aka IPS, as its packaging > format. IPS is what Oracle Solaris 11 and later use, and there's an > "IPS cheat sheet" available from Oracle that gives some examples of how > to do certain things. The 'pkg' command works sort of like yum, in > that it can fetch and install packages from remote repositories. > > I think that OI also still supports packages in the older SVR4 package > format. > > I have a very long history with RPM and I find a lot of things about > IPS/pkg somewhat alien, but the fact that IPS integrates with boot > environments is extremely handy.
Well IPS is way more powerful than that. Most package management systems (SVR4/APT/RPM) are "fetch a tarball with metadata" while IPS is the GIT equivalent in the package management realm. Do a massive update with IPS and APT then compare the timings... There is a reason why we pay this overhead of rebuilding the index at each install. > >> 2. Is it recommended for desktop OS, or are you focusing on server >> installations? > > > My feeling is the majority of OI users use it for servers. I however use OI > as my desktop environment at my work, and it's served me well for several > years now. I switched to the /hipster branch several months ago, and > that's getting much more attention than the old -dev branch of OI. > > /hipster recently got packages for the MATE desktop environment, and that > will likely be the default in the not too distant future. MATE has been > very well received by the community. > >> 3. Is there any way to install the OS without ZFS? > > > I'm not certain. I guess I don't understand what would prompt one to do > that. ZFS definitely has a learning curve, but it's years ahead of the > nearest competitor. ZFS is one of the "killer features" that > differentiates Illumos-derived (and Oracle Solaris) systems from other > options. > >> 4. Is ext4 is supported? Recommended for root, home? > > > Not that I'm aware of. > >> 5. Is it recommended to install the OS on old HW? I have this currently >> running Debian Linux: > > > There is a hardware compatibility guide in the OI wiki. Check that out. > > Your old hardware won't have USB3 so the current lack of support for USB3 > in all Illumos-derived systems, including OI, won't be a factor for you > right now. Work has started by an Illumos developer to add USB3 support. > >> 6. Is there any web interface for packages, so I can check if there's any >> package that I'll miss, and have to compile by myself. > > > There's a web interface to the various OI repositories, including > /hipster. > > https://wiki.openindiana.org/oi/Package+Repositories > > If you're just starting with OI, you should really start with the /hipster > branch, so check out the hipster and hipster-encumbered repositories. > >> 7. I also have a server, currently running FreeBSD. It hosts a git server, >> lighttpd based web server, NFS server, and acts as border GW doing NAT. >> Can I >> use oi for these? > > > OI should be able to accomplish all of these tasks for you. Git & > lighttpd should be very easy to get going. NFS has always been available, > and OI supports through at least NFS version 4, though I'm not certain > about 4.1 or 4.2. > > Having OI act as a border GW doing NAT also shouldn't be an issue, though > the commands and the software used to do it on OI might be quite different > than on FreeBSD. > > Tim > -- > Tim Mooney tim.moo...@ndsu.edu > Enterprise Computing & Infrastructure 701-231-1076 (Voice) > Room 242-J6, Quentin Burdick Building 701-231-8541 (Fax) > North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58105-5164 > > > _______________________________________________ > openindiana-discuss mailing list > openindiana-discuss@openindiana.org > https://openindiana.org/mailman/listinfo/openindiana-discuss -- --- Praise the Caffeine embeddings _______________________________________________ openindiana-discuss mailing list openindiana-discuss@openindiana.org https://openindiana.org/mailman/listinfo/openindiana-discuss
