[OmniOS-discuss] Hello world, and some newcomers questions :)

[Jim Klimov]

Hello,

   I decided to give OmniOS a practical shot - or at least try something
other than glare at it from a distance; but one aspect that is not yet
clear to me - even after reading the installation docs, blogs, etc. -
is a simple question: how different is it (for OS administration) from
OpenIndiana?

   From the docs and examples I see that the CLI syntax for network and
zone management is quite the same, packaging seems to be IPS, though the
installers are somewhat different - but hey, you only need them once in
a lifetime, and I know too well how imperfect Caiman is for my taste ;)

   So, in layman's terms for a newcomer to this platform - can it be said
that OmniOS is like OI, only without desktop aspirations and with more
frequent updates (in bloody at least)? Can the two OSes be noticeably
distinguished while using them for server tasks via SSH or serial
consoles? On a side note, does OmniOS still include *some* X11 good
enough to fire up a VNC server for some of those programs which do
require a graphics interface but need nothing fancy (some enterprise
software installers, java consoles, etc.)

   Similarly, is there enough relation between the two (OmniOS and OI)
so as to be able to easily migrate from one to another by changing the
package repo provider and updating a new BE, or are things too diverged
for that? :)

   Can the OmniOS package repositories be easily cloned (and/or built)
in order to have a replica in (closed) LAN - like can be done for OI?

   If I build my own ZFS-root image for the networked installer, can it
involve a hierarchy of several datasets or just one root FS dataset?

   Sorry if this was all answered before, then my google-foo and ability
to walk links on OmniOS Wiki is seriously impaired by the brain-melting
heat in central Europe ;) If not - well, I think answers to this letter
deserve a prominent spot on the project's web site in order to lure
some potential converts like myself ;)

Thanks,
//Jim Klimov