Working on Solaris has become very much Linux-like. The new Solaris 10 box came with all kinds of FOSS and GPL software, ready to rock, icluding Apache and Samba. It still doesn’t ship with a compiler unless you specifically buy one, although gcc is available in repository. If you are looking for it, the URL is sunfreeware.com. There’s another gigantic help for those who are used to the Linux way: pkg-get. If you have used Debian (or Ubuntu) and have explored the beauty of the package management with apt-get, this is the very close equivalent. you can grab a new catalog listing from the repository of your choosing, search for available software, and install it. The install will also check for and install any dependant libraries or helper apps. You can get pkg-get from bolthole. I tried it out by installing Sudo, and it was a beautiful experience. The Sun Server and I still reminisce about that special feeling we had together.