[OpenIndiana-discuss] abandoned support for OpenOffice, Miozilla Firefox, Adobe Flash, etc.

[jlane59 at cox.net]

For your consideration:

Support for several programs that I really enjoy has been discontinued for the OpenSolaris / OpenIndiana platforms.  It won't be long 
before FireFox 3.6.12 becomes unacceptably obsolete ... and OpenOffice 3.1.0 ... and Thunderbird 3.2.4 ... and Adobe Flash ... and ??  
The unfortunate result is that with no continuing support from software providers, OpenIndiana is gradually drifting toward obsolescence.


Please know that my understanding of programming is basic and mostly conceptional and I have just about zero experience.  So, 
what I am about to offer might be based on a misunderstanding of what would be in involved.

Would it be possible to modify some select segments of OpenIndiana code to accommodate programs that are tailored to run on one 
of the major Linux Distributions?  And, most importantly, while making the necessary alterations, do not effect the "look and feel" of 
OpenIndiana (as OpenIndiana has not changed the 'look and feel" of OpenSolaris).


If I correctly understand the nature of the GNU General Public License, the Free Software Foundation, copyleft licensing, etc., I believe 
it should be possible to copy and adapt some of the pertinent source code segments and libraries directly from the Linux kernel and/or 
from a major Linux distribution.  I imagine that the required modifications would probably not be as extensive as designing that support 
rom scratch ... though it would certainly be more involved than a simple "copy and paste". 

If (as example) Debian source code is fairly close to OpenIndiana, with regard to support for a specific web-browser (let's say FireFox), 
then the program, its libraries, and updates (as run on Debian or Debian derived LinuxOS) could be applied directly and unchanged to 
OpenIndiana.  Thus, a copy of the FireFox program for Debian (and its updates) would work as cleanly on OpenIndiana as they do on any 
of the Debian derived Linux OS (Ubuntu, Linspire, Knoppix, etc).

If the above can be acomplished, a "Debian flavored" copy of a program and updates (again if I correctly understand GNU GPL licensing) 
could be added to the OpenIndiana repository.  

I regret that I don't have the knowledge or talent to provide a real and working illustration, but I am sure that a more knowledgeable person 
will understand what I propose.


If OpenIndiana cannot be updated and kept current, how long before a user is forced to change operating system to keep up with new 
program features and new hardware or to view new (and even the 'not so new' multimedia formats)?