Sun on Open Source Road!!
Sun Microsystems, of Java fame, is on the road to Open Source softwares!! Earlier it open sourced its operating system Solaris, it has already made the Java Studio Creator available for free, and now it’ll be offering Java Enterprise System server middleware, Java Development tools and N1 provisioning and management tools, reports c|net.
But these softwares, though now FREE, are not Open Source yet, though given Sun’s stance & recent decisions regarding its product line, they’ll be open sourced sometime soon. Born from this move is Solaris Enterprise Sytem which will comprise of Solaris 10 operating system, PostgreSQL database, Java Enterprise System server & tools, N1 provisioning & management tools and Secure Desktop software, making it a complete package which is ready to be deployed on servers. :tup:
In a september speech, Sun President Jonathan Schwartz said
Everything that Sun produces will be open source and free
And team that with the fact that the Java community has been bugging Sun for open sourcing Java, which Sun has resisted so far!! Sure Java is free, but why do people want it open sourced? To make custom builds? 
Ok, there’s more to it than just that if its open sourced & Sun has assured that it’ll be done so sometime in near future.
So how is Sun going to generate revenue? Support, ofcourse!! So from a software company it’ll become a services provider and earn its keep by charging for support of its software and by selling server hardware etc. But will anyone really purchase support licenses? A lot of people doubt that Sun will be able to expand or even build a sizeable revenue by riding on the back of service/support contracts. However, Sun’s executive vice-president for software, John Loiacono, has some different views on it indeed when he said
Today customers have the opportunity to use the software free of charge. For that, they will get pointed back to community and forums for support. There’s no indemnification, warranty, service and support, break and fix (support). That’s very unacceptable for the vast majority of any customers doing any kind of business-critical deployment.
How true this is and I agree fully with it. Small scale businesses or lone developers etc. might be able to survive by taking the supportive hand of the community and their own in-house skills, but business-critical segment and that in big companies is a different ball game alltogether!! They have more money to spend since they generate more revenue & paying the mother for support is gonna be a lot cheaper for them instead of a minute of downtime which can account for more than lost revenue, it can result in lost clients as well!! :think:
Also coming up in early 2006 are Sun Ray ultra-thin client and Sun Secure Global Desktop Software which will also join the open source crowd sometime later, the schedule not finalised as to when. When open sourced, Sun’s server software will be licensed under its Community Development and Distribution License but again its not definite as it may change depending on the situation at the time the softwares are open sourced!!
So looking ahead, I can’t say about Sun but those consuming its softwares & building on Java do have a pleasant ride ahead of them!! :bingo:
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I agree with you completely. At first Sun had grabbed my attention, but then thought about it and am staying the course with weblogic…
A free java platform equivalent to the complete BEA platform (including WLP and Integrator) is being dumped onto the market.
Would this throw a wrench into anybody’s plans?
but realistically, there’s no money in it.
can you get a job knowning Sun’s platform?
You’d be better off knowning weblogic or websphere. just do a monster.com search to prove it.
no money in it. just like JBoss sounds great, you can download it. use it. But can you get a job knowing it? no…
There’s less money in Sun products than there is in knowing JBoss…
also you need solaris.. they plan to make money…stupid plan
stay the course. take a look at WL9…
the most practical below-radar enterprise portal plan at this point remains liferay running on weblogic.
well, you mis-understood me!! my post above is not against Sun’s move and I’m not anti-Sun either!! I consider myself to be above bias when it comes to choosing softwares that I need for doing any work. I just choose what I think is the best for the job as per me!! That’s why I don’t have any problem in working in any environment and I can adapt easily to change in workflow or industry!! I think that this is something that every programmer should have, you can’t be a professional if you are biased in a way which pushes down the importance of getting job done effectively!!
One of Sun’s shortcomings in the software market has been its lack of partners. Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, BEA, they all have their partners and hence their products are known, since having partners result in marketing which leads to more products up your sleeve!! But Sun haven’t had partners for its softwares and that’s what has hurt it a lot. This might change however, as it was announced that Google was teaming up with Sun.
In present situation, your comments will hold ground that there are less openings in the job market for Sun platform, but then everyone has to start somewhere!! Was Microsoft that hot from the beginning? Was Java(& software riding on its back like Weblogic & Websphere)?
And have you really tried Solaris 10? From the feedback that I’ve gotten from my friends, its the most feature packed operating system around, its a dream come true for a server!! And as for them planning to make money, well, what’s wrong with it? Do you work for your company for free?
What the thing is that they are offering great products for free, though if you need support, you have to pay. For those people who don’t need support, like small businesses & developers etc., this is just great since they can now get the thing they wanted for FREE. And large companies & organisations who do need support, well, they can pay since they can generate many times over in profits if their servers etc. keep running in excellent condition, so they don’t mind paying.
If I’m not wrong, this will indeed pick up momentum soon. In the end, its just about making choices!! Where you go and how you do just depends on the choices you made when you had the time.
You can get a job if you know Liferay Enterprise Portal though…