What are SunOS and Solaris?

SunOS is a Sun Microsystems implementation of the Unix operating system. Solaris is SunOS packaged with a number of additional tools and a graphical user interface (GUI) environment. Since Sun Microsystems did not offer Solaris until SunOS 4, SunOS and Solaris have different version conventions (e.g., Solaris 1 includes SunOS 4, while Solaris 2 includes SunOS 5). To further confuse the naming scheme, Sun now refers to Solaris by just its point release (e.g., Solaris 7, 8, or 9 instead of 2.7, 2.8, or 2.9).

When Bill Joy, one of the main programmers of the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), helped found Sun in 1982, he brought with him the elements for the first release of SunOS. Up through version 4.1.x (Solaris 1.x), SunOS remained a heavily BSD-influenced Unix implementation. However, in the late '80s, Sun entered into a partnership with AT&T, which was then developing the other major Unix flavor, System V. The result was System V release 4 (SVR4), which incorporated BSD as well as SunOS extensions (e.g., NFS). Subsequently, with its version 5.x (Solaris 2.x) releases, SunOS shifted from its BSD origins to SVR4.

For more information about SunOS and Solaris, including FAQs, white papers, and upgrade and purchasing information, visit:

• Sun's Solaris web page
• Online documentation at Sun Microsystems.
• BigAdmin at Sun Microsystems. Tips and tricks and further documentation.
• SunSolve patches and technical information.
• Sunfreeware.com has many binary packages available. We also have a local mirror of Sunfreeware.
• The Solaris 80/20 Document - the 20% of Solaris knowledge that will solve 80% of your problems.

Additionally, you can consult the following newsgroups:

• comp.unix.solaris
• alt.solaris.x86
• Those in the comp.sys.sun.* hierarchy

Note: In common parlance, when people speak of SunOS, they usually mean the older BSD-based versions (SunOS 1 through 4.1.x and Solaris 1.x). The term "Solaris" typically refers to the SVR4 releases (SunOS version 5 and higher, and Solaris version 2 and higher) exclusively.

At Indiana University, to get support for personal or departmental Linux or Unix systems, see At IU, how do I get support for Linux or Unix?

Also see:

• In Unix, how can I display information about the operating system?
• About Linux
• Where can I learn about the history of Unix?