Sun plans to counter the growing popularity of Linux by
releasingSolaris under an open-source licence and
adopting a software updating system similar to those used by Linux
suppliers Red Hat and Novell.
Company executives at Monday's launch of the most significant
update of the Solaris operating system for years said that while
Sun had yet to choose a software licence for the open-source
version of Solaris, it would do so within the next 45 to 60
days.
As well as releasing the Solaris source code, which must be
compiled into machine-readable binary code before it can be used,
Sun also plans to release a binary version of Solaris, free of
charge, by the end of January.
For systems with four processors or fewer, subscription pricing
will cost between $120 (£65) and $360 per processor per year,
depending on the level of support. Pricing for Solaris 10 on
systems with more than four processors has yet to be set.
Also expected in January is an automatic software updating
system for Solaris subscribers. A version of the system to let
users create and distribute their own Solaris updates via a proxy
server is planned for later in 2005.
Sun's efforts to promote itself as an open-source provider have
been greeted with scepticism by many developers, in part because of
Sun's historical antagonism toward Linux. This week, Sun executives
continued to give with one hand while taking away with the other by
dismissing Linux at the same time as promising to interoperate with
it.
With the first release of Solaris 10, expected in January, Sun
will add support for the Solaris version of the standard Linux
compiler, called the GNU C Compiler. Follow-up releases in 2005
will include a Solaris version of the Linux boot loader, called GNU
Grub, which will speed up the Solaris booting process on x86
machines. The company is also preparing a technology to let Linux
applications run unchanged on Solaris.
To help applications migrate from Linux to Solaris, Sun expects
to announce shortly that Solaris is compliant with the Linux
Standard Base, a specification designed to encourage
interoperability between software written for different Linux
distributions. "If you write to Red Hat, you'll be very easily able
to move that application into our environment," said Jonathan
Schwartz, Sun's president and chief operating officer.
Despite the talk of Linux interoperability, Schwartz said
hardware makers had been frustrated at their inability to get the
approval necessary to have their code submissions accepted as part
of the Linux kernel.
In choosing the model for open-source Solaris, Sun will build on
its experience of developing the Java Community Process, which
standardises and advances development of Sun's Java platform. "The
Linux community model currently is much freer, but there is a
single conduit," said Schwartz, referring to Linus Torvalds, the
founder of the Linux kernel project who has ultimate say in what
software gets added to the kernel. "The challenge is trying to
build the best of both worlds together."
Schwartz was also critical of Red Hat's legal protection for
customers in the event of intellectual property disputes over the
Linux source code. "Red Hat ships its product and then says, 'We
can't vouch for the intellectual property.'" Schwartz said Sun
would be able to use its massive software patent portfolio and
cross-licensing deal to protect open-source Solaris users.
"We plan on making open source safe," he said. "Do we think that
will be a competitive advantage against Red Hat? Yes."
Sun has good reason to focus on open source. According to
research company IDC, Linux server shipments grew by 38.2% during
the second quarter of 2004. But although Sun has lost ground to
Linux over the past three years, the volume of Sun's Solaris-based
servers rose by 33.8% during the second quarter of 2004.
Sun's announcement reflected a renewed embrace of x86 processors
from Intel and AMD. Sun is shipping a range of x86 systems itself,
and has signed up 35 equipment manufacturers to distribute Solaris
x86 on their systems, including blade supplier Egenera and Founder
Group, China's second largest PC manufacturer. "They used to not
want to push Solaris for x86, but we've really seen a departure
from that," said IDC analyst Jean Bozman.
A number of software suppliers, including Oracle, BEA Systems
and Computer Associates have thrown their support behind Solaris
x86 and Sun even expressed optimism that Dell or Hewlett-Packard
may some day support Solaris in the same way they've embraced
Linux. "We'll get them, it's just a matter of time," said
Schwartz.
Robert McMillan writes for IDG News Service