Nexenta OS
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| Nexenta OS | |
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 Nexenta OS Alpha 5 running GNOME 2.14 |
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| Company/developer | Nexenta Systems / HackZone members |
|---|---|
| OS family | OpenSolaris, Debian, Ubuntu |
| Source model | Free and open source software |
| Stable release | 1.0 elatte (February 10, 2008) [+/-] |
| Preview release | 1.0 elatte (February 10, 2008) [+/-] |
| Kernel type | Monolithic kernel |
| Default user interface | GNOME |
| License | Various |
| Working state | Release Candidate |
| Website | www.nexenta.org |
Nexenta OS is a computer operating system based on Debian/Ubuntu and Solaris for IA-32 and x86-64 based systems. It emerged in fall 2005, after Sun Microsystems started the OpenSolaris project in June 2005[1]. Version 1.0 of the NexentaOS was released in February of 2008, building upon many release candidates that were widely used in 2006 and 2007[citation needed]. Nexenta OS is the first distribution that combines the GNU C library and userland with the OpenSolaris kernel. The Nexenta OS supplies capabilities such as transactional upgrades and an open source packaging capability to the Linux / Debian community, enabling the simple creation of software appliances. An additional purpose of Nexenta OS is to provide a kernel allowing proprietary closed source hardware drivers to be produced for inclusion in an open source operating system[2]. Nexenta Systems, Inc. initiated the project and sponsors its continued development.
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[edit] Repositories
There are two official APT repositories: "testing" and "unstable", totalling over 12,000 packages. A third "stable" was added for the first official release. Nexenta OS is available as InstallCD and VMware images. A Live CD is also available, but only for releases up to alpha 5.
Nexenta repositories follow the general Debian structure (main contrib non-free). Stable releases use a subset of this structure. Packages originate from Debian GNU/Linux via Ubuntu.
[edit] Development
Since Nexenta OS does not use the Linux kernel and Sun only recently began releasing the code of their Solaris operating system as free and open source software, it supports less diverse hardware than other Debian variants. Proprietary Solaris versions have been known to be more compatible with Sun's own SPARC-based hardware, while x86 support fell short[citation needed]. But this is rapidly changing now that most of the Solaris code base is licensed under Sun's Common Development and Distribution License[citation needed] and there is support for binary drivers on top of a stable application binary interface. This makes it feasible for hardware manufacturers to release device drivers without source code.
The Nexenta OS team has decided to concentrate on a minimal GNU/OpenSolaris effort called the Nexenta Core Platform (NCP)[3] which forms the basis of the NexentaStor NAS storage solution. NCP is derived from Ubuntu Dapper Drake[4].
Version 1.0 of Nexenta Core Platform was released on February 10, 2008.
[edit] Releases
- Nexenta 1.0 is a basic distro with a toolchain and other packages and repositories built on top of it. Nexenta 1.0 features[5]:
[edit] See also
- OpenSolaris
- BeleniX, another operating system based on OpenSolaris
- SchilliX, another operating system based on OpenSolaris
- GNU variants
- List of Ubuntu-based distributions
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Nexenta OS website
- Nexenta OS at DistroWatch
- Announcement on the Ubuntu development list
- Nexenta OS in Launchpad
- Challenges and Future Plans for Nexenta (pdf) 06 Oct 2007
- Martin Man's blog on Nexenta
- Joe Little's blog on the use of Nexenta at Stanford
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