Sun plans to share some source code for the Solaris operating system from local time this Tuesday and publish detailed OpenSolaris programs. It hopes that this will help build an active Solaris programming community.
Programmaker is a key ring in the software life cycle, which is connected to students, new projects, customer procurement, software partner support. Programmaker helps Sun will extend Solaris's "site" from the SPARC system to the X86 architecture system.
Solaris is still a very popular UNIX, which helps Sun blocks Windows attacks during the .com boom. However, Linux constitutes a threat different from Windows, which is widely used by the computer system, and these students may become a system administrator in the future to help their boss build IT systems.
Meta Group analyst Richardson said Sun is obviously trying to get the favor of developers. In some cases, they all use Linux as a reference development platform for new applications.
To learn about the huge challenges faced by Sun, let's examine the Red Hat. Its core Red Hat Enterprise Linux products are developed with the help of countless external programmers. Its itself also "contributes" a large number of open source software, but it has also encountered difficulties when establishing a programming community named Fedora.
Illuminata analyst Haf said that if Red Hat has difficulties in establishing a programming community, what is the future of Sun?
However, Jonathan, president of Sun showed an indomitable spirit. He said that the basic motivation of the establishment of a programming community is to improve Sun's performance by obtaining new customers. He wrote in the network diary this month. We expect to communicate through communication with programmers to get new customers.
Red Hat is skeptical about Sun's plan. The company's community relations manager Grage said that developers joined Sun's community is very difficult and must prove to them to join this community to bring huge value.
Sun also refuted Red Hat's doubts, it said that Solaris X86 is free for users who only want to get the software and patch software, which is a distinct contrast with Red Hat's current paid version of the Linux policy.
SUN's open source
Sun is not unfamiliar with an open source operating system. UNIX originated from AT & T, but Sun's partnership Joe was helped to develop BSD UNIX of open source code. In the history of Sun, half of the child has been using BSD UNIX in a product called Sun OS. In the 1990s, Sun turned to the Solaris operating system.
However, one problem that is interested in the industry is that as UNIX owners, the SCO group has been illegally putting UNIX source code in Linux, and claims to be $ 5 billion, which will tolerate Sun? Open UNIX source code?
Although no detailed information is disclosed, Sun said it has paid $ 9.3 million in a transaction in 2003, and has obtained more rights.
Sun promises to the industry, it will not prosecute developers and customers due to the use of Solaris related patents in open source software, even after an open source software, it will provide legal protection to Solaris programmers and customers.
According to informed people, Sun will take the "Community Development and Distribution Permit" (CDDL) method to release open source code, Solaris.cddl, has earned approval of relevant agencies earlier this month, becoming an open source software licensing method .
CDDL makes Sun not share code with Linux, but sun can benefit from open source software from other aspects. For example, the upcoming Solaris X86 may use grub to allow users to select the operating system you want to use when starting your computer. SUN Solaris X86 pain
In the establishment of a development community, Sun has had a mistake. In 2002, Sun gave up Solaris x86 in order to reduce development costs. At that time, Sun did not sell the X86 architecture server, in the Kingdom of Sun, Solaris X86 is just a second-class citizen. SUN thinks Solaris-UltrasParc is a computing platform gold partner.
After almost completely abandoning Solaris X86, Sun's hand-in-law McLii began to show SUN's support for Linux. Among the X86 servers sold in SUN, 75% -80% of the servers run Linux instead of Solaris x86.
Now, Sun also focuses on Solaris, and a feature in the future version of Solaris X86, which enables Red Hat Linux software to run in the Solaris x86 environment.
One reason for Sun Re-Enabled Solaris X86 is to apply its technology as much as possible in the products purchased by customers as much as possible. Sun's official mock the operating system manufacturer's dependence on hardware manufacturers, laughing at Dell's dependence on operating system manufacturers, ridicuing IBM, HP does not transplant their UNIX operating system to the chip of X86 architecture.
Control more software and hardware, which means that Sun can use profits gained in a field to obtain price competitive advantages in other areas.
Attract external programmers
Sun has attracted dozens of programmers and personnel related to open source software to participate in the OpenSolaris test plan and obtain certain success, such as the development of Portage's Peter is developing the Solaris version of Portaris.
Some non-Sun programmers are also very good. One of them is Masayuki Murayama, which has developed 13 drivers of the network card. The other is Brown, and he has developed several drivers that enable Solaris x86 to communicate with specific devices.
Can Sun really open?
A developer of a prudent attitude towards Sun's OpenSolaris project is Duemo. He is a front employee of Sun and is now working for UNIX laptop manufacturers. He is also developing a Solaris driver.
Dermo said, I think Solaris, which is open source, is a real test for Sun, because according to my previous experience, the Solaris design team has serious emotions. I have discovered such a thing, some very good products often be killed, because they are from the Solaris Design Team. LINUX is almost perfect in this regard, it has a good inclusive.
Whether OpenSolaris can succeed depends on Sun, it clones or avoids which factors in Linux development mode will be critical. Dermo said that Linux development model is not suitable for OpenSolaris, slightly unpacking, open Solaris source code will not make it maintained its original proprietary development model.
