One:
Should i use Samba or CIFS?
Given your rule-set man, I'd be using samba for time being. You can simply pkg-util -i samba. It'll plonk everything into /opt/csw/sbin/ and the config file will live in /opt/csw/etc/.
Probably even easier, you can user the OpenSolaris 2008.11 IPS apt-like system to install samba that way too.
Two:
I cant find the packages i want with pkgutil or pkg. Does this mean i just have to compile from source and force myself to check the package websites weekly for updates? Is there a better way to do this?
I think I mentioned this before, but you can just use IPS to get updates et al, if they are on the opensolaris repo. If not, yeah, try pkgutil. If STILL no, then yup, compiling from source it is. For the 2008.11 builds, the BEST way to do things is to use IPS, as it is the direction they want to push people in/make it easier for folks who aren't savvy enough to understand LU and smpatch.
Three:
Kind of inline with number two but how do i find out when there are securtiy updates to the kernel and stuff? cause i did pkg image-update -v and it updated it, i dunno if there were any changes or not.
You did the right thing dude. That is correct. To check what is happening internally, you'll want to:
uname -a
To get your kernel info. If kernel has been updated, or any critical drivers, logically, it's going to ask for a reboot. You can also look at all the revisions of your packages through showrev -p.
Samba (or equiv) <-- already explained. On every repo.
logcheck <-- compile by hand, but keep in mind, solaris uses logadm to handle this stuff in kernel mode 64bit. Far more efficient.
fail2ban <-- compile by hand, but again, solaris uses something more powerful, called "denyhosts", check it out
moblock <-- DEF compile by hand. No way any solaris user would ever put this into a repo. Isn't this like PeerGuardian? Dude, wtf?
tbh i really like the idea of zfs but having to get rid of all the things that makes debian so easy to use is making it a hard decision!
It's a wonderful world, once you get into it. A liberating one, that shows you how good it can really be. But, I have to say, if you are looking for Linux, or a Linux like experience, this might not be a world you want to know. Solaris, BSD, AIX et al were never about "Friendly" or "easy to manage". They are about absolute raw power and functionality. You get this, in spades. 2008.11 was designed to be a means to make it all far more usable for people. It's gone a long way in doing it, hence, so many peeps are cutting across to OpenSolaris.
That being said, it's not for everyone. Just keep in mind, Linux will, for the forseeable future, drag the chain as far as storage technologies go. It's kernel was never made for this world, nor were any of it's design goals. Will we ever see true ZFS in kernel, in Linux? Well, they tried - and failed, so I doubt it. Maybe the FUSE project for ZFS could work, even if it will be stuck in userland.
You use UNIX because you need power and stability/functionality. Not because you want to easily update things or have packages that can do everything, let alone have packages that then ACT UPON packages (like a meta-package), which in the UNIX world is a huge no-no.
Hope it helps.
z
