[indiana-discuss] Tim's 0.02

[Gary Gendel]

Tim Foster wrote:
> Hi All,
> 
> I'm really looking forward to seeing that Indiana can offer, and will
> do anything I can to help out.

I would love to devote the minimal time I have to this project.

> My thoughts:
> 
>  - Package management
> 
>  I echo the comments so far: a network-based package repository,
> that's smart enough not to re-install libraries already on my system
> would be super. 1 CD to install would be great too.

+1
The CD would put together a base system and then the user can pick up additional
pieces off the net. And it has to be much faster than the current install. We
need to get it so it takes a fraction of the time it does now.

>  - Install
> 
>  I know there's work ongoing on a new installer - but I was really
> excited by the comments Ian made about virtualisation during his SVOSUG
> talk[1]. I suspect it'll be a while before we get this, but it sounds
> fantastic.

+1
The mockups look superb. This will be a real win.

>  - Desktop
> 
>  It might be worthwhile for everyone to read the Desktop Gaps document
> that the Desktop Community put together a while back:
> 
> http://www.opensolaris.org/os/project/jds/documents/desktop_gaps
> 
> I think it pretty clearly shows the areas that are lacking in the
> OpenSolaris desktop today.

This is a very nice list. But it would be nice to expand it. For example the
power management doesn't work on my Dell 5160 even though it should. The APIC?
tables need to be supplied somehow and there is minimal information on how to do
this. Since Windows/Linux has no trouble with power management, Solaris
shouldn't either. With Intel 3945abg support, I can finally think about putting
OpenSolaris on my Lenovo laptop after a year.

> Of course, many are already being looked at as part of the ongoing JDS
> work, which is great to see - the desktop has come on in leaps & bounds
> over the last few years - it's *nearly* at the stage where I'd be happy
> to ditch my Mac at home in favour of OpenSolaris.

I heartily agree here. The only issue is that the system requirements of the JDS
is growing each release. Let's keep in mind that people want this on current
generation laptops.

>  - Power management
> 
>  For me, getting suspend-to-ram working would be enough to make that
> switch. Solaris already archives all my photos, music, etc. but being
> able to get instant-on would promote Solaris to being my main platform
> for nearly all my home computer use.

Or some other mechanism for quick boot/shutdown, especially shutdown. Having to
wait 30 seconds to shut down means that you're always the last one out of a meeting.

And... Even though I hate to admit it. We need to have a some real support for
Wine or something similar. I've converted a number of people from Windows to
Ubuntu, but it required that (at least) Word be available to them. Because of
the missing power management and lack of Wine I wouldn't suggest OpenSolaris at
this point. I know that OpenOffice/StarOffice is a great substitution, but not
for the generation of users that have used Office for the last 10+ years. As we
move forward, this may become less of an issue, but for now it is.

Fuse is another prime example of something that is really needed now. It would
provide access to network and local file systems that are becoming more
routinely used. The fuse team seems to be moving along but I still don't see the
light at the end of the tunnel.

I know many of these things are a chicken and egg problem... If we had more user
interest we would work on it, but we can't get the users unless we have it.

As I said before, we have a ton of catching up to do in this space. I am
thrilled at the quality of the released features and I wholeheartedly support
this approach, but many of us are sitting on our hands waiting for the critical
mass of functionality to be available.

Gary