Dear Solaris forum
(this was -sort of- the best sub-forum I could find based on previous postings, feel free to move if it is considered inappropriate)
Background and Disclaimer:
I sincerely hope that this will not break rule #8 of the forum rules, because that is not my intent. My question is not a general anti-GNU/FSF kind rant or anything (I am myself a GNU/Linux user) but is based on a genuine curiosity and a love for the diversity inherent in open source. Despite this, it is grounded on the fear of an
emerging monoculture of GNU, and due to this I find projects such as PCC as systems compiler for openBSD and the
ClangBSD project being encouraging developments, and hopefully
Linux will follow their lead. My concern started to grow after reading the blog post
"GNU is killing Solaris". If it indeed is the case that GNU has become the defacto standard on all UNIX and unix-like operating systems, I see that as a problem. Just to underline my concerns, I started looking for Linux distributions with alternative tools (specifically if there were any that used Zsh rather than Bash as default shell since those two are about equally powerful and rather easy to change between) and I did not find any (except Gobo, but even there it was not part of the core distribution but rather added on top).
The actual question (and the Solaris connection):
Is anyone aware of an alternative distributions out there - like an "inverse
Nexenta" where a BSD- or Solaris userland is added ontop of Linux - or is the general consensus that this would combine the "worst of two worlds"? If so, would that indicate that there is no place in this world for alternative userlands and total GNU domination is imminent? The googling that I have done found the
Heirloom project, which apparently hosts old original opensourced Solaris userland utilities which can be run on Linux (I have no idea whether the current openSolaris userland utilities are equally portable), and some indications that engineers were working on making it possible to
compile Linux with SunCC (any updates on opensourcing of sunCC?). I suspect that Linux suffers from a severe GNU lock-in which probably would make a hypothetical Solaris/Linux operating system difficult at best. Why not use the "real thing" (openSolaris) you might ask - which is a valid point. On the other hand does the linux kernel show one of the most rapid developments and most extensive hardware supports, which even someone wanting to use a non-GNU unix-like operating system might like. My basis for this question is however not focused entirely on the technical pros and cons, but rather to highlight and try to define why *BSD and Solaris userlands are being outcompeted and/or replaced by their GNU counterparts and to try to find out whether there are any alternative developments.