[OpenIndiana-discuss] is oi still a `safe' os

[Alexander Pyhalov]

On 10/09/2014 22:30, Harry Putnam wrote:
> Sorry if my subject line seems a bit thin.
>
> I've been running oi and opensolaris before it, off and on for a few
> yrs.  I like having a home lan zfs server.
>
> I've seen comments in enough posts lately to cause me to worry about
> using OI.  People say it is not kept up to date, that there is no
> security updates and that in general there is no careful watchdog
> group keeping an eye on it.
>
> One or more of those may be wrong or overstated... the problem is I'm
> not equipped skill wise to know.
>
> I'd like to hear a few comments from old hands as to whether a
> low-skilled admin is still safe using oi for home lan service.
>

Hi.
I think that that this depends on your use case. For example, I consider 
running 6-years old SXCE server "safe enough" to run, because it is 
behind corporate firewall and is used as only a terminal server. We were 
running several linux hosts with known CVEs which we couldn't update for 
about a year. If you run it behind NAT and you are a single user, you 
are on safe side. If it's your desktop, you are on the safe side (who 
will write exploit for desktop Solaris ? :) ).
Of course, I wouldn't run something critical service which is available 
from outside on OI. But for other use cases it can suite.
Of course if I run OI, I'd run Hipster. But I'm biased.
-- 
Best regards,
Alexander Pyhalov,
system administrator of Southern Federal University IT department