[illumos-Developer] ON is bloated and a bunch of stuff that doesn't need to be there should be ripped out (was Re: Heads up: perl 5.8.4 removal)

[ken mays]

--- On Thu, 11/11/10, Erik Trimble <erik.trimble at oracle.com> wrote:
> On 11/11/2010 10:56 AM, Peter Tribble
> wrote:
> > On Tue, Nov 9, 2010 at 7:44 PM, Garrett D'Amore<garrett at nexenta.com> 
> wrote:
> >> On Tue, 2010-11-09 at 19:02 +0000, Peter Tribble
> wrote:
> >>>> Its not a formal list... I'd have to go
> looking.  One thing that I do
> >>>> think we can probably clean up is the
> support for legacy SunOS 4.1 a.out
> >>>> executables.  Its been a few decades
> now, and I think the need to
> >>>> support executing such programs has long
> since passed.
> >>> That's one place I disagree. I regard SunOS4.x
> binary compatibility as a
> >>> massive advantage - and I run a *lot* of stuff
> that way. Most of it simply
> >>> can't be rebuilt (no source, even if the
> company that made it was still in
> >>> existence) or replaced. Sun hardware and
> software has lifetimes
> >>> measured in decades; many companies rely on
> this (often unknowingly).
> >> Right, but can't these be run in an S10C zone or
> in a VM?
> > How does that help? We are talking sparc only here, so
> the VM options
> > are limited. (And one thing you need is to be able to
> run old software on
> > current hardware, so you might not have much choice on
> the OS
> > version.)
> > 
> > As for an S10C zone, does that actually take the code
> away, or just move it?
> > 
> 
> Peter's right - if we're abandoning it, we're abandoning
> it. There's no looking back.
> 
> That said, Oracle doesn't appear to be abandoning SunOS 4
> compatibility.  So, if someone is completely desperate
> to keep running that old app, and won't migrate, well, they
> at least have an option.  And, frankly, it's a great
> way to put a price tag on the cost that keeping
> compatibility for *your* ancient app places on developers.

The illumos-modified ON kernel does not need to meet any of those requirements (i.e. SunOS 4.x compat, Perl 5.8 inclusion, future SPARC support, etc.).

Remember, the fork process allows Illumos developers to work on ON kernel variant(s) at their own peril or benefit. That is the joy of kernel hacking.

If the community wants certain 'legacy-related' requirements, we have Oracle Solaris 10/11 for now...

~ Ken Mays