[osol-mktg] OpenSolaris/Solaris and Hardware Partnerships

Sara Dornsife Sara.Dornsife at Sun.COM
Tue Mar 20 08:21:07 PST 2007


I don't want to get off the positive topic that you brought up initially 
- creating more content that will be helpful to new (and experienced) 
users. That's how we grow our base of enthusiasts.
Sara


Kaiwai Gardiner wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Ok, maybe I was getting a little ahead of myself; but there seems to 
> be a lack of communication, which is the more correct assertion I'm 
> trying to make, in that, as an end user, who has seen device driving 
> rocketing forward on *BSD's, one has to wonder what is happening with 
> Sun.
>
> If there is development happening at Sun, there needs to be an channel 
> where by communication between enthusiasts exist; what is being 
> developed on, conduct a poll on what end users would like seeing 
> supported in the way of wireless chipsets, for example.
>
> When there is the lack of the communication, as mentioned, it can be 
> interpreted as 'shunning the enthusiast community' by not asking for 
> their input in what needs to be developed; yes, Fortune 500 customers 
> are nice to get close to, but word of mouth evangelism and maintaining 
> links with the grass roots will also help drive OpenSolaris adoption 
> by those who can make decisions in deployment as well as those who are 
> looking for a itch to scratch beyond the Linux/GNU community.
>
> Matty
>
> On 3/21/07, *Sara Dornsife* <Sara.Dornsife at sun.com 
> <mailto:Sara.Dornsife at sun.com>> wrote:
>
>     I feel obligated to point out that the open sourcing of the code
>     shows Sun's interest in catering to enthusiasts.
>
>     Your suggestion for content is really good and I think will be
>     very useful. Let's move forward and see where we can take it.
>
>     Sara
>
>
>     Kaiwai Gardiner wrote:
>>     Hi,
>>
>>     You're right - there needs however to be a divorce between the
>>     OpenSolaris community and Sun/Solaris itself - Sun seems to be
>>     not interesting in catering to enthusiasts, small shop
>>     programmers and basically anyone who 'falls outside' the fortune
>>     500 list of people.
>>
>>     OpenSolaris community needs to create that bridge between the
>>     OpenSolaris project and end users which creates and inclusive
>>     environment which is stuffy and over corporatised.
>>
>>     With that being said, once this has been set up, my next push is
>>     for bounties for Solaris issues to be addressed by those who
>>     wouldn't otherwise contribute to an open source community - to
>>     speed up development in areas which are not being focused on by
>>     the Sun developers but end users would like addressed.
>>
>>     Matt
>>
>>     On 3/21/07, *Sara Dornsife* <Sara.Dornsife at sun.com
>>     <mailto:Sara.Dornsife at sun.com>> wrote:
>>
>>         Let's ask Derek about adding links in those two places. I
>>         would think that the driver community should have some
>>         involvement there too???
>>         Sara
>>
>>
>>         Tim Foster wrote:
>>>         Hi there,
>>>
>>>         On Tue, 2007-03-20 at 07:32 -0500, Sara Dornsife wrote:
>>>           
>>>>         Is there anywhere I should be linking to the HCL from? 
>>>>             
>>>         Yeah, I'm scratching my head about where also - except it should be
>>>         somewhere prominent I think.
>>>
>>>         Perhaps the "System requirements" link on 
>>>
>>>         get.opensolaris.org <http://get.opensolaris.org> ? Maybe
>>>         also somewhere on http://www.opensolaris.org/os/downloads/ ?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>           
>>>>         Is Nevada going to be different?
>>>>             
>>>         Yes unfortunately, there's always new hardware being added - the HCL
>>>         does have a separate section for Solaris Express though, which was based
>>>         on pretty recent Nevada bits..
>>>
>>>         	cheers,
>>>         			tim
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>           
>>>>         Sara
>>>>
>>>>         Tim Foster wrote: 
>>>>             
>>>>>>         What I propose is a "works with", "OpenSolaris compatible" programme
>>>>>>             
>>>>>>                 
>>>>>         Interesting idea - how is this different to the Solaris Hardware
>>>>>         Compatibility List ? (or are we talking about branding here - something
>>>>>         that could be based off the HCL?)
>>>>>
>>>>>         Should we instead be driving the community to add/ammend the Solaris
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>         HCL, writing tutorials or somesuch as to how they go about doing that,
>>>>>         or make more prominent links to the HCL on OpenSolaris.org ?
>>>>>
>>>>>         More at
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>         http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/hcl/
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>         Have you seen the device detection tool:
>>>>>         http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/hcl/hcts/device_detect.html
>>>>>
>>>>>         If we could get everyone using OpenSolaris to check the HCL, and then if
>>>>>         their system isn't listed, to run HCTS and submit the results
>>>>>         http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/hcl/hcts/  then others would benefit from
>>>>>         that.
>>>>>
>>>>>         	cheers,
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>         			tim
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>         On Tue, 2007-03-20 at 20:00 +1200, Kaiwai Gardiner wrote:
>>>>>           
>>>>>               
>>>>>>         HI,
>>>>>>
>>>>>>         I'll make up a mock up of it on OpenOffice.org Calc, and spit it out
>>>>>>         to a PDF then post it via this avenue (if it is of a reasonable size
>>>>>>         (less than 50K))
>>>>>>
>>>>>>         Matt
>>>>>>
>>>>>>         On 3/20/07, Sara Dornsife 
>>>>>>
>>>>>>         <Sara.Dornsife at sun.com> <mailto:Sara.Dornsife at sun.com> wrote:
>>>>>>                 Would you be able to create this matrix? I think that would be
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 very helpful to many. I can give you access to the marketing
>>>>>>                 community to post it, but that doesn't seem like the right
>>>>>>                 place. Any ideas?
>>>>>>                 Sara
>>>>>>                 
>>>>>>                 
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 Kaiwai Gardiner wrote: 
>>>>>>                 > Hi,
>>>>>>                 > 
>>>>>>                 > With hardware compatibility, you can have a matrix; the name
>>>>>>                 > of the device up the top in the title, a list of features on
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 > the left hand side and along the top, the distributions -
>>>>>>                 > basically a grid like formation.
>>>>>>                 > 
>>>>>>                 > So what you can do, for example, if I have an mp3 player,
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 > for example, which distribution will it work with, and what,
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 > if any, software do I need to download and install to make
>>>>>>                 > it possible to access the device.
>>>>>>                 > For classes of device, do you specify the entire class as a
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 > single group - eg. USB Mass Storage Devices), then note
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 > exceptions that don't work, like my Sony DSC-S85 digital
>>>>>>                 > camera[1]
>>>>>>             
>>>>>>                 
>>>>>           
>>>>>               
>>>>>>                 > In the case of my mp3 player:
>>>>>>                 > 
>>>>>>                 > iAudio X5 30GB
>>>>>>                 > 
>>>>>>                 > Feature:                          OpenSolaris
>>>>>>                 > 
>>>>>>                 > Ogg Playback                Yes
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 > Ogg CD Ripping             No - Seperate
>>>>>>                 >                                       download (provide
>>>>>>                 >                                       link to third party
>>>>>>                 >                                       packaging site)
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 > 
>>>>>>                 > Matt
>>>>>>                 > 
>>>>>>                 > On 3/20/07, Sara Dornsife <Sara.Dornsife at sun.com>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>          <mailto:Sara.Dornsife at sun.com> wrote: 
>>>>>>                 >         Kaiwai,
>>>>>>                 >         A hardware "compatibility" program would be great.
>>>>>>                 >         And your help would
>>>>>>                 >         be very appreciated. The biggest issue we face with
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         this is the fact
>>>>>>                 >         that there isn't really an OpenSolaris distribution
>>>>>>                 >         to be compatible 
>>>>>>                 >         with. A hardware vendor can be compatible with
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         Solaris, and the Solaris
>>>>>>                 >         Ready program has been mentioned.
>>>>>>                 >         
>>>>>>                 >         Is there a way to put together a program that would
>>>>>>                 >         indicate
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         compatibility across all distributions? We can work
>>>>>>                 >         on the TM once we 
>>>>>>                 >         figure out the program.
>>>>>>                 >         Sara
>>>>>>                 >         
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         
>>>>>>                 >         
>>>>>>                 >         Patrick Finch wrote:
>>>>>>                 >         > Hi Kaiwai,
>>>>>>                 >         >
>>>>>>                 >         > I think the biggest challenge you face in an
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         activity like this is
>>>>>>                 >         > that people will always be very reluctant to
>>>>>>                 >         certify to a code base. 
>>>>>>                 >         > Statements of compatibility will almost always be
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         made against
>>>>>>                 >         > specific binary distributions, rather than to
>>>>>>                 >         source code.
>>>>>>                 >         >
>>>>>>                 >         > Sara Dornsife has been looking into this in more
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         detail, and has also 
>>>>>>                 >         > been looking into an "ingredient button" style
>>>>>>                 >         programme, (such as
>>>>>>                 >         > "Intel inside" or the use of Tux to represent
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         Linux), but I don't
>>>>>>                 >         > think it is that straightforward, and at the
>>>>>>                 >         moment, we only have 
>>>>>>                 >         > what's called "fair use" of the OpenSolaris name
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         (i.e. you can call
>>>>>>                 >         > your distribution "based on OpenSolaris").
>>>>>>                 >         >
>>>>>>                 >         > If you can make any progress on these challenges,
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         it will indeed be 
>>>>>>                 >         > most valuable.
>>>>>>                 >         >
>>>>>>                 >         > best regards
>>>>>>                 >         >
>>>>>>                 >         > Patrick
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         >
>>>>>>                 >         >
>>>>>>                 >         >
>>>>>>                 >         >
>>>>>>                 >         > Kaiwai Gardiner wrote:
>>>>>>                 >         >> Hi,
>>>>>>                 >         >>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         >> Given my limited programming skills, I thought it
>>>>>>                 >         would be best to 
>>>>>>                 >         >> contribute in a way which I could add 'value'.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         >>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         >> What I propose is a "works with", "OpenSolaris
>>>>>>                 >         compatible" programme
>>>>>>                 >         >> which is part information for customers, and part
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         promotional spot/plug 
>>>>>>                 >         >> for hardware vendors who either explicitly
>>>>>>                 >         support our hardware through
>>>>>>                 >         >> providing drivers, implicitly by the provision of
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         specifications or work
>>>>>>                 >         >> 'out of the box' due to the nature of the device
>>>>>>                 >         itself - for example, 
>>>>>>                 >         >> an mp3 player that uses UMS rather than a
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         proprietary database like
>>>>>>                 >         >> structure such as an iPod.
>>>>>>                 >         >>
>>>>>>                 >         >> The benefits will be two fold; firstly, customers
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         who wish to run
>>>>>>                 >         >> OpenSolaris will have a list of hardware which
>>>>>>                 >         they can choose from 
>>>>>>                 >         >> which is compatible 'out of the box' - ranging
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         from chipsets to mp3
>>>>>>                 >         >> players.
>>>>>>                 >         >>
>>>>>>                 >         >> The benefit to hardware vendors will be that they
>>>>>>                 >         will have a visible
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         >> presence in the OpenSolaris 'community'
>>>>>>                 >         communication board as a form of 
>>>>>>                 >         >> marketing; making their hardware more desirable
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         over others,and thus
>>>>>>                 >         >> push up sales of those companies willing to
>>>>>>                 >         help/support the OpenSolaris
>>>>>>                 >         >> community.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         >>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         >> I'm in the process of working out a programme,
>>>>>>                 >         and will most a much more 
>>>>>>                 >         >> detailed out line of it; but I thought it would
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         be best to give a 'heads
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         >> up' and whether the 'OpenSolaris' community as a
>>>>>>                 >         whole are willing to
>>>>>>                 >         >> get behind this programme as part of the over all
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         marketing push. 
>>>>>>                 >         >>
>>>>>>                 >         >> Awaiting replies and input,
>>>>>>                 >         >>
>>>>>>                 >         >> Kaiwai Gardiner
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>                 >         >>
>>>>>>                 >         >> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>                 >         >> opensolaris-mktg mailing list
>>>>>>                 >         >> 
>>>>>>
>>>>>>         opensolaris-mktg at opensolaris.org <mailto:opensolaris-mktg at opensolaris.org>
>>>>>>                 >         > _______________________________________________
>>>>>>                 >         > opensolaris-mktg mailing list
>>>>>>                 >         > 
>>>>>>
>>>>>>         opensolaris-mktg at opensolaris.org <mailto:opensolaris-mktg at opensolaris.org> 
>>>>>>                 > 
>>>>>>
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