So I need the SATA driver for the Nforce Nvidia working now. It ain't going to happen. I'm trying to write an article about ZFS and OpenSolaris for ;login. I went out tonight and bought a normal IDE drive, 300G was $100. I could do with something smaller, but with the rebate and availability, the price was right. When I'm done, I'll put the 300G drive in for my 40G drive in a Shuttle SS51G.

I loaded b34, I didn't have b35 downloaded. I'm in the midst of adding the Solaris Software Companion DVD contents to wont.

By the way, I expect the SATA drivers will be shipping right about after I send in my article.

Anyway, Rik, the editor of ;login wants there to be a definite OpenSolaris slant. I think this raises a good point about how OpenSolaris is perceived by the outside community. I think it is expected to be a traditional distribution model, e.g., RedHat or Debian. My perception of OpenSolaris is any Nevada release. Think of it this way, ask Linus what distro he uses and he might reply "None."

Does that make the version he is running on his desktop/laptop not Linux? No, don't be silly.

In a way, the analogy is a good one - Linus is to Linux as Sun Microsystems is to OpenSolaris. You can futz with the kernel all you want in Linux, but Linus is the ultimate gate keeper for the code. He might delegate some of the responsibility, but at the end of the day, he can revoke that authority.

I think some people want to see a model where Sun is a bit more loose with what gets in to the code base. And that is just what drives Solaris developers crazy. I've heard kernel developers debate this point - they don't care that others can make code changes, but they do care deeply that those changes might get in and ruin the quality of the code base. They take great pride on the quality of the code and it is the linchpin in the business model being developed. Sun wants you to use their Open Source implementation and the reason you should is for the increased quality. They are going to make their money on support dollars.

It sounds weird to say Sun will make money off of support dollars and they take pride in the code quality. Doesn't good code not need support? But part of quality is the support you can get from customer service and engineering.

Or put it this way, the matrix of interoperability testing overwhelms the QA cycle. It is hard to qualify every product with every application or box they need to communicate with to get the job done. When a problem does arise and your business needs depends on fixing that issue, don't you want a good service model to be in place?

Whew, got off topic - I had no idea I'd get there when I started the entry. Anyway, right now, OpenSolaris can be defined as any Nevada release from the Solaris Express train. Just couple it either yourself with the Solaris Software Companion DVD or get an image from a distro.

The kids played well - they won the 1st half. We had 4-5 solid shots on goal beat the goalie, but just go wide. I.e., they were great shots and the reasons they missed had nothing to do with the goalie. I was happy with each try. Our other kid from the Fall season showed definite improvement. He always had the speed and the correct attitude, but he finally felt comfortable. I had him at left forward in the 2nd quarter and he did some great ball movement with the other forwards.

We lost energy in the 2nd half and really got bitten by not having gone over goalie responsibilities. I thought the goalie did a great job, we just got unlucky with 2 direct kicks right outside the penalty box. The ref did a good job and the kids were in it until the end.

The Monster nearly gave me a fit - I put him in at right defender for the last quarter, he was supposed to sit, but I went for the win and put out my 6 best players. Anyway, at one point he was on the sideline and dribbling the ball about the forward. He did two stop and push backwards in a row. I was sure he had given the ball away and an open lane to the goal. He managed to fool the forward and get the ball away. I've always been impressed with his ability to stop an attack, but this was the first time he showed real skill with controling the ball.