Open-source details hold up Solaris release

SAN FRANCISCO--Sun Microsystems is planning the bold move of releasing the source code of its Solaris operating system, but those eager for details of the plan may have to wait until early 2005.

The server and software company has planned to release its new version of the Unix operating system by the end of the year--source code and all--and will give Solaris center stage at a Nov. 15 product launch announcement.

Sun will release pricing details at the event, said Glenn Weinberg, vice president of Sun's operating platforms group. But other details will be conspicuously absent. The company won't release the software itself or its open-source licensing details until weeks later.

Weinberg wouldn't commit on Tuesday to saying that Solaris 10 itself and details of the open-source plan will be out by the end of the year. "It'll be really close," Weinberg said at a meeting here with reporters.

News.context

What's new:
Solaris 10 will still debut on Nov. 15, but Sun won't release details of its open-source plan for the operating system for several weeks due to continuing discussions with open-source experts.

Bottom line:
Sun will share pricing and technology details soon, but the biggest new development--the release of the source code--might not happen until early 2005. Sun says the wait will ensure the open-source plan isn't half-baked.

More stories on Solaris and open-source software

The primary reason for adding the scheduling leeway: Sun still is settling details of the open-source plan, said Weinberg and Sun President Jonathan Schwartz. Sun is engaged in discussions with open-source representatives at the Open Source Initiative and elsewhere about the best way to cooperate with the collaborative programming movement, Schwartz said.

Schwartz said Sun is asking open-source developers, "What's the right way to interact with you, to build a high-integrity relationship with you?"

The success or failure of Solaris will have a major bearing on Sun's future. The company is trying to spread Solaris from servers that use Sun's UltraSparc processors to more widely used models that run on x86 chips from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices. On those machines, Solaris faces major competition from Linux and Windows. Sun also wants Solaris to be a foundation for its higher-level server software, the Java Enterprise System.

Unable to resist a jab at rival Red Hat, Schwartz suggested that the top Linux seller has run roughshod over the open-source community: "Many of them feel like they've been marginalized with Red Hat. That's a hijacking we want to ensure we don't promote."

Red Hat, which has criticized Sun for not making its Java software open-source software, sees things differently. "Where the community might feel marginalized is when proprietary companies attempt to adopt the term 'open source' purely for marketing value," the company said in a statement. "This belittles the long heritage of open collaboration and the hard work that has gone into making Linux one of the world's most innovative, defining technologies."

Sun's open-source move will move the debate to more pragmatic grounds, Schwartz predicted.

"It will really give developers and end users an opportunity to take a step back and say--rhetoric aside, politics aside--let's compare these products. We'll have an Open Source Initiative-approved license, just like Red Hat. It will run on every x86 server, just like Red Hat. We will have prices for 5-by-12 and 7-by-24 support, except our license terms will be a lot more generous," Schwartz said.

Sun will sell Solaris under a variety of pricing schemes, ranging from a right-to-use license that comes with free support to a free license and the option of paid support, Schwartz said.

Eric Raymond, president of the Open Source Initiative, has had only unofficial communications with Sun representatives so far. "They have not formally consulted us yet," he said.

OpenSolaris, the open-source version of Solaris, won't give the operating system Linux's status, Raymond predicted. "The most likely effect is they shore up loyalty in existing customer base, but I don't see them winning new seats. I'm a bit skeptical about their prospects for gaining any market share, but I'm glad they're here."

[scdecade]

Sun is crazy

Why in the world would Sun open source Solaris?!? There are only 3 industrial grade, highly scalable OS's in existance and IBM owns 2 of them. HP-UX is going to be EOL'ed. Microsoft is a horrible joke and seems to actually be getting worse. Linux doesn't scale, isn't as well supported as Solaris, and it's future evolution is hamstrung by its own "community". The only thing an open source "community" is good for is adding cosmetic features.