Did Elvis Write Solaris?
I saw this picture and it set me to wondering....
Now, I'm not gullible enough to believe every picture I find on the web. After all, there are plenty of artists sufficiently skilled in Photoshop to fool even the most discerning skeptic. I would need independent verification, I decided. So I went to my usual sources. The best I know.
image courtesy of wallpapers.free-review.net
First, I went looking for a Minnesotan. I found Paul Kasper. Paul writes the Information Center for the SunRay Software. I'm pretty sure he's a Minnesotan, though he may be from WisCOLDsin, instead. I get the two confused. In any case, I can always rely on his common sense.
Rick: Did Elvis Write Solaris?
Paul: Wasn't he supposed to be dead?
Since that conversation didn't yield any useful results, I went to my second source, my 16-year old daughter. I can always rely on her sincerity.
Rick: Did Elvis write Solaris?
Beth: Well, if she was his girlfriend, then I certainly hope so. Because boys never write girls any more. It would be very sweet to receive a letter from a boy. As long as I liked him. But not if I didn't like him. Because that would be awkward.
I thanked her for sharing her opinion with me and walked outside, where I was met by my trusted advisor, my hyperactive boxer Buster. Since Buster doesn't actually speak English, I had to get forehead-to-forehead with him and use Canine Telepathy.
Rick: Did Elvis Write Solaris?
Buster: Play with the stick? PLAY WITH THE STICK! PLAY WITH THE STICK! PLAY WITH THE STICK!!
It was clear that I needed to expand my search. So I started digging around. Everywhere. And guess what I found? I found out that despite the best efforts of the name police, Solaris is often referred to by its unofficial names. For example:
Solaris 10 10/08 is often referred to as Solaris 10 update 7
Solaris 9 9/02 is often referred to as Solaris 9 update 1
That can make it pretty tough to communicate, ya know? In fact, John Petersen, a BigAdmin reader, asked us if we could do something to help. Well, thanks again to Bruce Hill, we have a little cheat sheet for you.
BigAdmin's Guide to Unofficial Solaris Names
It lists all the official names of Solaris and the vernacular by which they are sometimes referred to (tsk tsk). If you're not feeling moved to click on the big letters up above, you can get to it by clicking on the little letters below:
Wella wella wella, as for signs of Elvis, like a lot of other people, I'm still looking. While you're waiting, you can listen to some of his music on Blip.fm
- Rick
Did you check the man pages?
Posted by rchrd on September 17, 2009 at 01:43 PM CDT #
$ man Elvis
No manual entry for Elvis.
Guess not.
Posted by rchrd on September 17, 2009 at 01:45 PM CDT #
I grew up in Wisconsin, but now I live in Minnesota. They are both cold.
Posted by Paul Kasper on September 17, 2009 at 01:48 PM CDT #
Richard, he may have gone by another name. He was a shy coder, I heard.
Posted by Richard Ramsey on September 17, 2009 at 01:48 PM CDT #
Rick, you must have telepathy because I almost called you yesterday to specifically have you answer this question for me.
Thanks!
Brian
Posted by Brian Leonard on September 17, 2009 at 02:45 PM CDT #
Check the documentation
%ping elvis
elvis is alive
This goes back to at least SunOS 4.1, maybe earlier. Google it, it is still in the current pages at http://docs.sun.com !!!!
regards,
-glenn
Posted by Glenn Satchell on September 22, 2009 at 10:22 AM CDT #
Thanks, Glenn, I'd forgotten that. Was that one of Mateo Burtch's docs? I remember that he had a special connection with Elvis.
Posted by Richard Ramsey on September 22, 2009 at 12:12 PM CDT #