[OpenIndiana-discuss] illumos-based Distros

[ken mays]

Ref: http://wiki.illumos.org/display/illumos/Distributions

There are several widely different OS distributions based on common 
illumos kernel. Some of them are maintained by enthusiasts, others are 
primarily developed by commercial companies with their own priorities 
and target products (i.e. storage, virtualization, etc.) with different 
packaging systems (IPS, SVR4, DEB, RPM, etc). These projects contribute 
back to the common core set of software which the illumos project is 
about.
Distributions and projects built on the illumos kernel include (in alphabetical order):

	* Belenix – an old time distro, on which development has resumed again. Uses RPM.
	* illumian - general purpose server OS using Debian packaging rather than IPS (similar to OpenIndiana but without GUI components or other desktop packages), the open-source underpinnings of the commercial NexentaStor product. Currently no KVM virtualization support (feature to be possibly added later).
	* napp-it is a project of a ready to use ZFS storage server based on illumian, NexentaCore, OpenIndiana and Solaris with a single-command online installer and a WEB-UI.
	* NexentaStor- a fully featured NAS/SAN software platform with capabilities that meet and exceed the capabilities of legacy storage systems.
	* OmniOS - from OmniTI takes a minimalist approach to create a full Illumos-derived operating system. It includes all of the benefits of Illumos, such as zone and KVM virtualization, and is suitable for server use.
	* OpenIndiana is a successor to and derived from the original Sun OpenSolaris reference distribution, and is suitable for use on Servers and Desktops.
	* SmartOS from Joyent is an open-source illumos distro designed for cloud computing. It includes a port of KVM, allowing other OSes such as Linux and Windows to run natively in SmartOS/illumos virtualized environments.
	* osDyson - combines the illumos kernel and libc with the Debian userland and libraries. (ex-StormOS)
	* DilOS from igork is an open-source illumos distro with dpkg/apt. Can be using on VM and bare metal with text console and SSH logins as development environment with DPKG & IPKG zones.
	* XStreamOS is a distribution of the illumos kernel developed and maintained by Sonicle, featuring a customized text install, the ZFS fileystem, Crossbow network architecture, virtualization, zones, and a starting point to contribute and develop the illumos kernel.

	* marTux - a SPARC-centric LiveDVD distro for legacy SPARC sun4u and sun4v workstations and servers based on the OpenIndiana distro and the Illumos kernel.
Minor additions for NexentaStor, osDyson, and marTux. 
~ Ken Mays