Linux Mint vs. Oracle Solaris

Linux Mint is a great, stable product when you need an OS and software to "just work". I use it for file servers, docker, scripting, air-gapped backups, email notifications and more. Simple, inexpensive and stable. That's how software should be, and that's what Mint delivers on. The main thing holding Mint and other Linux distros back is the corporate walls that have been built shutting everything out except Microsoft. If companies would start supporting Linux better with their hardware and software we could and would ditch Microsoft in a heartbeat. but, alas, Microsoft has a stranglehold on businesses.

Incentivized

Oracle Solaris is great due to the fact that it actually is meant for high-end servers. Supports a wide range of hardware. The Stability of the solution is great. The documentation does not support some solutions, and there are no other options. Most of the product is still command-line, despite the fact that they've got a graphical user interface in some areas. For some reason, core administration is still done via command-line.

Incentivized

• terminal
• file management
• OS and software updates

Incentivized

• Live update for patching in conjunction with the package management functions. This ability to rollback is very convenient.
• dTrace
• Built in compliance testing.

Incentivized

• some more User Interfaces - like for services

Incentivized

• Takes time to learn.
• Integration into Microsoft's Active Directory.

You need to take the time to learn it. It is a massive product.

The support teams are well trained and responsive. Patches are rolled out regularly and are easy to deploy and backout.

Stress testing and timing is key. You need test systems that mirror the live environments. User testing must be reflected in peak loads.

Pure Debian OS, freshly installed, is missing some Quality Of Life tools that need to be installed to make it usable. Ubuntu has not a great user interface for work purpose, seems more like a toy than an OS. Both Mint and Ubuntu are derived from Debian, so same great package manager, but for work purpose I think Mint is a great OS.

Incentivized

Oracle Solaris is Scalable, have a good patching capability and secure by default. You want to have something that's up and running and stable, something that's not going to crash. But if we do have an issue, we can get somebody for technical support who can help us work through the problems.

Incentivized

• It has saved tens of thousands of dollars just for being our air-gapped backup solution. other software would have been very expensive, and harder to manage
• Providing simple, easy to use applications (docker, for example) that can quickly, easily, and inexpensively deployed saves many, many hours and dollars

Incentivized

• It just runs like a top, this mean TCO is low
• We've not had issues with Solaris running on Sparc.
• Reliability is above reproach.

Incentivized