Im just a casual 14 year old, should I get Solaris I heard these machines run the net, but whats it going to help me with, and how powerful is it? Also does it have any wireless capabilities?

I'd say if you want to learn, sure go for it. You could probably hold off and save some money though if you were planning on getting an actual sparc machine, etc as you can install Solaris for the Intel platform.

actually sparcs on ebay arent that bad around 100 thats my savings for a few months but hey do you think its worth it? what can i do with it?
(newbie-hacker in transition)

i wouldn't recommend it at it. solaris is not a toy and can be stupidly unfriendly. I'd advise you to come to know linux inside out first.

solaris doesn't run the net, there are many different systems like AIX, HPUX, BSD, UNIXware and Linux doing it aswell (and windows junk of course). i believe the share is actually less than linux.

as a side note plesae be aware that *ANY* references to cracking and so forth are strictly banned, Your other thread has attracted undesirable attention already. thanks.

This is personal opinion with a little fact mixed in. It jumps a few subjects as well.

I run SPARC-SUN-SOLARIS and actually prefer it to Linux for security stuff. As you are quickly learning, anybody with an old PC and lots of time on their hands can learn how to bring a Linux system under thier control (assuming it's not patched, and perfectly up to date). However, it takes a different talent altogether to buckle down and learn how to gain control of a SPARC. Data integrity is my primary goal - still a Linux user with enough evil intent and talent could probably crash my SPARCServer, but they wouldn't be able to control it.

This is a lesson I learned the first time I installed RedHat 6.1 on a computer with the network cable plugged in. It took 45 minutes for a sniffer to remote it, install additional sniffing drivers, and use it to attack someone else. While the lesson applies to any unpatched UNIX, including Solaris, it also speaks volumes for the sheer amount of people willing to try to break the law (US::Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986) using Linux.

Not until RH 7, Mandrake 8, etc was there a decent Patch control system for Linux (as there has always been for Solaris, AIX, HP/UX, etc.). Some Linux distros are still missing this.

zetsui, depends on what you want to get out of it?
From the h/w side of things Sun gear is like driving in a hummer - you know it aint going to break down when you need it the most
from the s/w side of things it's very similar to any garden distro of linux - if you wish to delve into s/w best of to grab a copy of linux and try to break that first - plus with your current box, you'll most probably get more performance then running Solaris on an old sparc machine, installing linux is also relatively easier
Trying to run x86 Solaris is a pain, since you have to consider your h/w after the OS selection not the other way around.
Still, i re-interate its what you wish to get out of it

hth.

what does h/w and s/w stand for? yeah, im going to get used to linux first

h/w = hardware
s/w = software

That paragraph cracks me up everytime that I read it...

100 bucks for an old Sparc machine. lmao, you don't want to buy one of those dinosaurs if you want to play with Solaris. I just bought a Sun Ultra 10 with a Ultrasparc IIi 440MHZ processor and 512RAM. It was $400 on ebay. Solaris is true Unix (not Linux) and

I don't suggest you learn it unless...
you will be working for a development firm that uses it
you want to become a solaris network administrator
you have $400 (like me) to waste on ebay

Start with linux, become a guru, then solaris.

I olmost forgot, if you do lots of java development, sun is the way to go.

thx enigma, im 14..... no $400 no jobs for 14 year old i hate it!!!!!!!

i can relate to zetsui im 14 no job but i can get some money..... im starting with SUSE and i know nothing about solaris but i am alittle intrested to learn...... would u say bsd is more powerful or solaris?

yeah i get money, i can get a sparc but hell....... i want to master unix before i go to it, bsd is wierd, trust me SOLARIS RUNS THE NET

You might want to take a trip over to Netcraft and take a peek at the article about FreeBSD. Solaris may be popular, but I don't think any one OS can make the claim of "running the net".

well if you want the most powerful unix solaris is the only one i can think of, low processor speeds and high memory..... bsd is wierd from what i hear........ and stickman...... are you an admin from justlinux?