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First look: Sun Java Desktop System Release 2
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CommentsDespite my best efforts, this software just didn't work for me, so the rest of this review will cover what the software includes and what it should offer if you manage to get it installed and working on your machine. I can't verify that any of these features work as stated; I can't even verify that Sun Java Desktop System 2 works at all on any computer hardware, although I'd say it's a safe bet that someone, somewhere has a computer that this software will work properly on.
Sun has some "canned" screen shots available if you'd like to see what the programs and the desktop look like. I was unable to save or send screen shots when in Safe Mode on my notebook system.
The operating environment
Java Desktop System 2 is billed as an "operating environment," not a GNU/Linux distribution or an operating system. The technical difference between the terms is simple: an operating system is software that controls the hardware and lets you use the computer. An operating environment is an operating system plus an array of tools and utilities that allow you to use the system for a specified purpose. In this case the operating environment is geared toward both system administration in a corporate environment and software development using the Java programming language.
What this means is that you can substitute the operating system module for a different one and still retain the same functionality and purpose for the operating environment. Sun is already developing a version of Java Desktop System that uses Solaris instead of GNU/Linux. Despite the abysmal hardware support and restrictive licensing that Solaris generally offers, it should still be a better choice than the SUSE-based release that Sun currently offers. It would be a different story if they'd used a modern GNU/Linux distribution like SUSE 9.1 or even 9.0, but the basis for JDS2 is SUSE 8.1, which uses the 2.4.19 Linux kernel. At this point in Linux development, 2.4.19 is prehistoric -- it's about a year and a half old.
I bet you could probably upgrade the operating system while leaving the interface and the rest of the environment intact by installing a newer version of SUSE after JDS is on the system. I had the opportunity to try it on my laptop system and it seemed to work at first (JDS was recognized as a viable distribution to upgrade to SUSE 9.1 from) but I didn't have enough space to install all of the packages that I needed with the existing partition setup, so I had to repartition and thus lost the ability to test the upgrade further.
Features
Sun Java Desktop System Release 2 comes with more software firepower than almost any other GNU/Linux distribution on the market. It's not that it has more in terms of the number of packages -- certainly it doesn't have more than what is contained on all of the Debian CDs, or even in the full SUSE installation -- but it has more specially designed software than any other distribution. Specifically I'm talking about:
- YaST2, the SUSE setup tool
- SaX2, the SUSE X Window configuration tool
- Java System Update Service
- StarOffice 7
- Java 2 Standard Edition (J2SE)
- Sun Control Station 2.1
- Sun Java Desktop System Configuration Manager
- Remote Desktop Takeover
- Sun Java Studio Standard 5 update 1
- Enhanced language capabilities, including improved support for Chinese and new support for Japanese, Korean, and Brazilian Portuguese
As components of SUSE's distribution, YaST and SaX are part of the same backbone that provides automatic hardware detection and manual configuration through graphical dialogues. YaST also provides an excellent control panel for managing your system's network and other administrative duties that would otherwise have to be done by editing text files by hand.
SaX makes configuring the X Server an easy task if your hardware is supported. You can change the screen resolution and color depth or change hardware settings for your video card and monitor if necessary.
The Java System Update Service is much like Red Hat Network and SUSE's YaST Online Update. It downloads security patches and bug fixes on a schedule (or at your convenience) and installs them for you automatically. This is what you're buying when you pay the yearly license fee. If you don't renew your agreement at the end of one year, you will no longer have access to software updates through this service.
Sun StarOffice 7 is an excellent alternative to Microsoft Office. It has a more-than-competent word processor that can read from and write to the Word .DOC file format; a spreadsheet that can do most of what Excel can do; an equation solver; a database program; and a presentation and slide show production program like PowerPoint. Those who are heavily entrenched in Microsoft Office may find it difficult to switch or adjust to a different office suite at first, but if you will be using StarOffice exclusively within a company, you'll have little trouble being productive with it.
The Java 2 Standard Edition (J2SE) 1.4.2 application development environment is included with Java Desktop System, something that doesn't come with very many other GNU/Linux distributions because of licensing issues with Sun. Of course this being their own operating environment, they can't run into those hurdles. J2SE consists of the Java Development Kit (JDK) and the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and provides the necessary functionality for developing and using software written in the Java language.
The Sun Control Station 2.1 is a resurrection of the Sun Cobalt Control Station product that was previously discontinued. Control Station allows a system administrator to remotely administer, update, and control all nodes on the network that are running Java Desktop System. Through Control Station you can apply patches to some or all machines remotely, track and apply system images, enable or disable services, or any number of custom control modules that you can either get from Sun or design yourself.
The Sun Java Desktop System Configuration Manager is a comprehensive graphical utility for assigning rights and restrictions to users and groups.
The Remote Desktop Takeover utility allows an authorized user to remotely view and interact with other users' desktops, thereby enabling them to help and guide users or troubleshoot remote machines. This appears to work much like the Remote Desktop function in Windows XP Professional and other third-party virtual network connection software.
The special features of JDS 2 -- the Configuration Manager, Control Station and Remote Desktop Takeover -- will not work with the previous edition of JDS, so you'll have to upgrade all of your systems if you're using JDS 2003 and want to take advantage of the new administrative programs in Java Desktop System 2.
I can't tell you much about Sun Java Studio Standard 5 Update 1 because I'm not a Java programmer. Despite the inclusion of this advanced IDE (and the fact that it's based on NetBeans), Sun also includes NetBeans 3.6, which is another fancy GUI-based Java IDE.
Lastly, JDS 2 includes enhanced language capabilities, including improved support for Chinese and new support for Japanese, Korean, and Brazilian Portuguese.
Using Sun Java Desktop System
From what little I saw of the desktop, JDS's GNOME-based interface was streamlined, productivity-minded, and aesthetically pleasing. It takes the familiarity of Windows XP, removes all of the extra garbage, and puts all of the right tools in all of the right places while remaining easy to customize. It reminded me vaguely of BlueCurve, but better.
Conclusions
Sun Java Desktop System 2 is a good example of a great idea poorly implemented. The base system is exactly the same as the original 2003 release, the only difference being the addition of the rest of the operating environment: proprietary system management tools and the Java development software. Those are significant enhancements, but considering the atrocious functionality that the base system has, the primary focus should have been on improving the range of hardware support rather than adding more software.
The idea of an operating environment specifically designed for Java development with the look and feel of a streamlined GNOME desktop intrigues me enough to want to learn Java just so I can use it. Only the licensing and the poor hardware support stand in the way of my use of this operating environment, and if it were more sensibly licensed I would recommend it to others who have older systems.
Sun hopes that JDS2 will displace older versions of Microsoft Windows in emerging markets, especially in Asia and South America. Given the expanded language support for these regions and the fact that older versions of Windows are certain to be using outdated hardware, Java Desktop System 2 may do quite well in those markets.
I recommend Sun consider making some changes:
| Purpose | Operating environment |
| Manufacturer | Sun Microsystems |
| Architectures | i386 |
| License | Mostly under the GNU GPL, but some parts are tightly restricted by Sun |
| Market | "Emerging markets" in Asia and South America; corporations that are trying to migrate from an old version of MS Windows |
| Price (retail) | $50 annually (click here to order JDS 2 at the Sun online store) |
| Previous version | Java Desktop System 2003 |
| Product Web site | Click here |
Jem Matzan is the author of three books, a freelance journalist, and editor-in-chief of The Jem Report.
Comments
on First look: Sun Java Desktop System Release 2Note: Comments are owned by the poster. We are not responsible for their content.
Does JDS have *anything* in common with GNU at all? Of course not! This is the triumph of 'corporate linux', the only kind which Sun understands. It has nothing free about it, neither in the 'beer' not in the 'speech' sense. To be GNU-based, a application needs to promote GNU values (http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/).
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Yes. Too bad some of us have bills to pay and can't go around parading as a bunch of software hippies hoping that "corporations lost millions of dollars due to our software" like your idol.
Think, THINK! and realize that what you call "software hippies" are the ONLY ONES out there who are not after your money. In fact, they wish you had more money to pay your bills and they feel very sorry that corporations can suck out all your ressources out of you.
Software hippies? No. Your only true friends, even if you are too brainwashed to understand that.
In my home then I was running SuSE 9.0 with KDE 3.1 & Baghira theme so the desktop look pretty dull windoze like then I asked what goodies in t & I came to know that most of the stuff they give are also given SuSE 9.0 more over being a SUN product there is no J2EE installed in it , I mean I issued javac on konsole & got command not found though JRE was there.
Now SuSE 9.0 give me both JRE & Javac show why should I use JDS.<nobr> <wbr></nobr>;-)
All those comments about java on this place is amusing. Is somebody holding a gun in their neck and force them to clach on the keyboard?
That's irresponsible journalism, or worse, FUD.
What makes me think it's FUD?
Well, how about the fact that the part he couldn't get working -- the initial installation -- comes from SuSE! The author hadn't even gotten to the parts done by Sun.
So are we to believe that this author is right, and the SuSE installation procedures are crap?
Or should we believe every other review of SuSE instead?
Now it doesn't surprise me to see attacks on Sun's JDS. After all, JDS comes from Sun, so the Microsoft astroturfers are going to attack it, and JDS uses Gnome, so the Trolltech astroturfers are going to attack it.
But I do have to wonder . . . when did Linux.com become an anti-Linux FUD site?
And it appears <A HREF="http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/04/05/18/2043206.shtml?tid=108" title="slashdot.org">I was right</a slashdot.org>.
Of course we all know that Microsoft does it. The proof of that has come out many times (e.g. the Barkto affair, the Microsoft documents leaked to the L.A. times, the evidence in the DR-DOS case, and so on).
So it would appear that your only problem is with the fact that I believe that Trolltech also uses astroturf.
Oh well.
BTW, you should note that I didn't say that this article is astroturf. I just said it wouldn't surprise me.
Here is a link to someone who benchmarked to different SATA drives in Suse 8.2.
http://www.dbta.com/columnists/dan_fishman/curren<nobr>t<wbr></nobr> .html
The tech support situation was interesting and a bit disconcerting. Hopefully, businesses will start to realize that cheaper does not mean better.
And what was the diatribe about the license agreement about? Is he an attorney? You shouldn't read that crap... it will give you brain damage faster than programming in BASIC! Seriously, who has even bothered reading the entire GPL?
It looks good, StarOffice 7 is excellent, all the media bits work with Mozilla and generally feels wel integrated. Well done Sun - looking forward to JDS2!
BRAVO! Brilliant post!
You are the 100% moron who cannot say anything even remotely pertinent or substantiated.
go back to your Mac OS9!
For years, I've been telling my brother about Linux, but he was a die-hard Windows users.
Nevertheless, he used to complain about Windows all the time. And those complaints grew to a fever pitch when he started to use Windows XP in his business. Some sort of incompatibility between Windows XP and Windows 98 kept wiping out his Access database. So he was looking at a big expense to upgrade his entire business to Windows XP, and he wasn't happy,
So, instead, he upgraded his entire business to Linux. And the distribution he chose was Sun's JDS.
Since then, he has had nothing but good things to say about Linux, and JDS in specific. Like I did some years back, my brother has rediscovered the fun of computing. He doesn't have to fight with his PCs all the time, Linux just works and does what he asks it, and his business runs much more smoothly.
Was it hard for him to migrate Access to whatever database he chose?
Hope to hear from you!
It comes with SuSE 9.1 Pro as well.
-Jem
His database is not overly complex, and he originally programmed it himself. He migrated the data to MySQL (though I was pushing for PostgreSQL<nobr> <wbr></nobr>:-).
Migrating the data was fairly simple -- define the new tables, and then just export and import. The front-end queries, however, are more complicated.
Initially, for the front end, I helped him set up some rudimentary web-based queries using PHP.
We also used <A HREF="http://www.phpmyadmin.net/home_page/" title="phpmyadmin.net">phpMyAdmin</a phpmyadmin.net> (or <A HREF="http://sourceforge.net/projects/phpmyadmin/" title="sourceforge.net">here</a sourceforge.net>) to create and manage his MySQL tables.
He hasn't set up his local front-end yet, though he will probably be using the database software that comes with StarOffice.
I haven't used it myself, but I see from the <A HREF="http://wwws.sun.com/software/star/staroffice/faq.html#1q7" title="sun.com">StarOffice FAQ</a sun.com> that it now comes with the <A HREF="http://www2.softwareag.com/Corporate/products/adabas/default.asp" title="softwareag.com">Adabas Database</a softwareag.com>.
I had also suggested a few other alternatives, such as:
- A custom-written front-end using the Mozilla toolkit.
- A custom-written front-end using Gnome (since JDS is Gnome-based).
- GnomeDB (though I don't know how far along that project is).
- The database access capabilities of OpenOffice (though they're quite rudimentary).
It seems that the Java Desktop System will become part of Solaris, and will use Looking Glass technology. So when I upgrade my machines to Solaris 10, it will have a great 3D desktop environment on top of the best operating system.
So when I upgrade my machines to Solaris 10, it will have a great 3D desktop environment on top of the best operating system.
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Oh, no. You've gone and done it. What are you suggesting? Don't you know that nothing is ever going to be better then Linux! They'll hang you from your includes and scanf your internal organs!
Lets get this straight. Solaris IS better than Linux. Solaris 10 WILL be even better, with features such as DTrace and others like pedictive self-healing, N1 Grid Containers, and Access Rights Management. The full list is here: http://wwws.sun.com/software/solaris/10/
Look at the rpm's and you'll see they're snapshots of "no particular version".
The plumbing of JDS is primarily based on Yast2 but it's built with an earlier glibc (2.25). SuSE uses glibc 2.3. Not 'old' by any measure.
It's a very customized Linux distro.
You would think the 'reviewer' would have at least looked into what he was reviewing.
It is far from perfect, but I didn't see it as useless, either. Just my experience though. YMMV
-Jem
However, if Sun's intention is to take Linux out and put Solaris in, maybe they don't care about this.
I look forward to testing the Solaris-based JDS in a few months, but only if it isn't based on Solaris 7. I have the feeling that the Solaris JDS will be superior in many ways to the SuSE-based JDS, and I don't think that would be a coincidence if it happens.
-Jem
Perhaps you can post your own review?
not this time!
Posted by: Anonymous Coward on May 22, 2004 03:47 AMUsually, I am a strong partisan of using the expression 'GNU/Linux' instead of just 'Linux'. But in this case, I think that an exception might be in order.
Does JDS have *anything* in common with GNU at all? Of course not! This is the triumph of 'corporate linux', the only kind which Sun understands. It has nothing free about it, neither in the 'beer' not in the 'speech' sense. To be GNU-based, a application needs to promote GNU values (http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/).
As the Led Zeppling song Stairway to Heaven reminds of not all that glitters is gold...
JDS is 'open source' based yes, and most certainly 'non-GNU/Linux' based. In fact, JDS is *typical* of what you get when you drop GNU from GNU/Linux.
I will conclude with another verse from Stairway to Heaven:
Yes there are two paths you can go by
but in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on
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