As someone who grew up as a Hoosier, seeing a Linux distribution named OpenIndiana warms my heart.

Of course, is it really a Linux distribution?

Nope.

OpenIndiana, based on OpenSolaris, is a Unix operating system, so if you’re coming from Linux and you expect to experience a very Linux-like operating system, you might be in for a surprise.

Sun Microsystems initially released OpenSolaris in 2005 as an open source version of its Solaris Unix operating system. Oracle acquired Sun in 2010 and shuttered the project shortly thereafter.

If you know Linux well, you should be able to pick up on this OS pretty easily. To do that, you’ll want to understand the differences between the two:

**Feature **	OpenIndiana	Linux
Kernel	illumos kernel (a fork of OpenSolaris)	The Linux kernel
Origin	Forked from OpenSolaris (once it was managed, then abandoned by Oracle)	Developed by Linus Torvalds and a global open source community of developers and users
Underlying Architecture	Unix-based, System V derivative	Unix-like, but with a different approach to file systems, package management and service management
Primary Use	Originally intended for servers, but usable as a desktop OS	Widely used on servers, desktops, mobile devices and embedded systems
File System	Includes features like ZFS integrated into the kernel	Development of Btrfs to provide similar features to ZFS

OpenIndiana was created so that OpenSolaris could continue and be usable on x86-64 computers. This operating system is viable for anyone who longs to run a more Unix-like OS on commodity hardware.

Of course, you really have to have an interest in either Unix or OpenSolaris to want to use OpenIndiana. If you’re accustomed to using Linux and have no need to look behind the velvet curtain and see what a more Unix-like OS is all about, don’t bother with OpenIndiana.

If, on the other hand, the idea of having a Unix-like system intrigues you, OpenIndiana might be your best option.

OpenIndiana is available with the MATE desktop environment that is configured to look like pretty much any server graphical user interface (GUI) you’ve ever tried.

Before I continue, I wanted to offer one quick warning: OpenIndiana is not for those new to either Linux or Unix. You really need to have an understanding of one or the other (preferably Unix) to even attempt to use this OS. That’s not to scare you away from trying OpenIndiana, but rather, to give you a reality check before you do.

The idea behind OpenIndiana is to become the de facto successor to OpenSolaris, and it has succeeded with that mission.

But what is OpenIndiana like?

First Impressions of OpenIndiana

The installation of OpenIndiana is much easier than the last time I installed a Unix-like OS. With a straightforward GUI installer (after having to make a couple of text-based selections), I had the OS installed without any problems. In fact, the entire process took maybe 15 minutes. It might not be as fast as a Linux installation, but it’s certainly faster than the OpenSolaris installation. Of course, one must take into consideration that I was installing OpenIndiana on considerably more powerful hardware than when I was installing OpenSolaris.

Once the OS was installed, I logged into a very basic MATE desktop. It had top and bottom panels, an Application menu, desktop icons, a system tray and all the other trappings of a traditional server desktop.

The first thing I did was start scoping out the desktop menu. What I found was somewhat surprising, in that there were scant few applications. With that in mind, I opted to install some packages.

I wasn’t even remotely surprised to find there was no GUI option for managing software.

Go figure.

Off to the command line.

Installing Applications

The first hiccup I ran into was that the default MATE terminal window refused to give me a prompt. Good thing Xterm is included with the installation. With Xterm at the ready, I first decided to install a web server.

OpenIndiana uses the pkg package manager, so the installation process looks like this:

1	sudo pkg install PACKAGE

Where PACKAGE is the software you want to install.

Before I proceed, I decided to first run an upgrade with:

1	sudp pgk update

When that was completed, I decided it was time to install a web server. I’ve installed the Apache web server countless times, so I first attempted the process with:

1	sudo pkg install apache2

Nope.

1	sudp pgk install httpd

Nada.

Okay, let’s try something a bit more basic: SSH.

1	sudo pkg install ssh

Angry buzzer.

The good news on the SSH front was that at least I received an error informing me there were multiple packages associated with SSH, one of which was:

1	pkg:///openindiana.org/service/network/ssh

I then attempted the command:

1	sudo pkg pkg:///openindiana.org/service/network/ssh

Guess what? It was already installed. Turns out, all I had to do was enable the service with:

1	sudo svcadm enable ssh

Let’s find our IP address. Given this isn’t Linux, it was safe to assume the ip a command wouldn’t work. Instead, I went old school and issued the command:

1	ifconfig

Voilà! I had my IP address.

An attempt to connect to OpenIndiana from my Pop!_OS was successful. Huzzah!

Back to my attempted web server installation, I went with:

1	sudo pkg install nginx

This time around, I was successful. Next, I had to enable the NGINX service with:

1	sudp svcadm enable nginx

I pointed a web browser to the IP address of the OpenIndiana server to be treated to the NGINX welcome page.

You see how this works?

My Conclusion

There’s something romantic about using a Unix-like OS, and OpenIndiana fills that niche very well. I actually enjoyed figuring out how to navigate the operating system, and OpenIndiana actually made that kind of easy.

If you want to dip your toes into Unix, OpenIndiana is the way to go. But don’t just think of it as a toy operating system. OpenIndiana is powerful, stable and secure. You (and your organization) would do well to look into using this blast from the past with a nod to the future.

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