Somewhere out there!

VLC problems on Visata? Switch to the opengl output driver.

I set of flash demos look at Nexenta Operating System. Particular interest at creating zones and using BrandZ for etch. The demos seemed to be based on the new NexentaCP server platform which is the basis for NexentaStor.

A clear look at CIFS in Solaris by Alan Wright:

Many people assumed or desired that the Solaris CIFS server project would be like Samba but what would that achieve? Sure, it would avoid breaking any eggs, i.e. avoid making substantial changes to Solaris, but Samba is available on Solaris today. There is no point in creating another Samba. If you truly want an integrated CIFS implementation, that can really inter-operate with Windows at a fundamental level, the operating system has to support certain core features. Eggs will have to be broken.

An interesting commentary on the different business models for the new phone platforms, Apple vs Nokia: Nokia, the N810 Tablet & the Long View « GigaOM.

To be sure, both the iPhone and the N810 are phenomenal pieces of engineering. But Apple is actively trying to restrict what runs on the application in an arms race of unlocking, software updates, and bricking. This has forced many firms (Skype, Webot) to get “applications” on the iPhone through the Safari browser.

Contrast this war with Nokia’s handset, which is based on Linux. Nokia is building a platform that can run arbitrary software. It’ll be messy, and will go through several iterations. But in the end, we know how this story plays out: iPhone is Compuserve; Nokia is the Internet. (Google’s (GOOG) much-speculated mobile device is also rumored to run a pared-down Linux.)

Caution: Killing Germs May Be Hazardous to Your Health is a good article on “our war on microbes has toughened them. Now, new science tells us we should embrace bacteria.”

Nexenta Systems the guys behind the Debianised version of OpenSolarias have release a commercial storage appliance version of Nexenta:

Nexenta Storage Appliance is designed and built to operate as 2nd tier storage alongside pre-existing commercial storage, providing online continuation of data for months and years, with tapes relegated to archival purposes only. The appliance is targeted for 2nd-tier NAS and iSCSI applications requiring extremely low cost storage as well as dramatically simplified provisioning, expansion, backup, replication and archiving. NexentaStor can also be used as a primary NAS in businesses that wish to expand at closer to commodity pricing.

They have a VMware based evaluation version for download, and access to the bare metal install requires talking to their sales team.

From Martin Man.