With OpenSolaris 2009.06, the focus starts to shift to the enterprise
building on the latest successful release. Technology advancements such
as Image Packaging System, ZFS Boot, Automated Install and the
Distribution Constructor pave the way for new deployments in the
enterprise with maximimal ease of use and reliability, whatever the
task.
Two new package repositories, pending and contrib, provide the
opportunity of hosting the very latest in best of breed free and
open source software in a readily accessible format. A series
of contribution, rating and feedback tools for the software
contained in those repositories encourages the participatory
effect of community support, and ensures that OpenSolaris is the best
platform for development and deployment of open source software.
OpenSolaris will continue to have a re-distributable install image
that can be mirrored on download sites around the world. Additionally,
package repositories will be mirrored externally for the first time
to allow users to connect to the closest repository and install
software they need faster than ever.
With software appliances becoming popular in today's market, the
need for OpenSolaris to be flexible enough in a 'shrink to fit'
(e.g. JeOS) environment is increasingly important. Significant
package refactoring efforts, through package naming, meta-data
and contents, will ensure OpenSolaris proves to be an excellent
open source platform to develop new appliances, from storage to
network.
OpenSolaris 2009.06 will continue to strive toward key themes for
each release - usability and user experience in out of the
box configuration, security and auditability in a trusted
environment, virtualization, performance and scalability,
globalization in a changing world, accessibility for those
with assistive needs, while highlighting OpenSolaris' unique
technology and strengths.
2. Technology Priorities
The following section lists out a set of technology priorities for
OpenSolaris 2009.06. It by no means attempts to be an exhaustive list
of projects for inclusion in this release.