Sun’s new products apparently are paying off. Thanks to the V120, V1280, and V880, Sun is selling more UNIX servers than its competitors. Sun’s UNIX servers account for 52% of the shipments for the first quarter of 2003 in the worldwide market place. Press release.
Sun Returns as Leader of Linux and UNIX Server Market
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=SUNW&d=c&t=3m&l=on&z=b&q=l That’s more good news, the entire economy seems to be slowly but surely picking upa bit.
Yay! About time! Quick, lets start working up a new dot com bubble! It won’t burst. Not this time. Trust me.
I was thinking about starting a dot-com company..I will call it “www.useless_vaporware_ideas_to_get_investment_money_so_i_can_spend_un godly_amounts_on_office_space.com”
since sun is coming back this is a sure sign that the economy is coming back!!!….well mabye…it depends on whether SUN took shares from IBM/UNISYS/HP or whether more companies are buying more products from the Unix companies.
Let’s see IBM and other have benifited from Linux and now Sun who looked like they were on the verge of kicking the buck have been helped out by Linux as well ! Looks like that old Ms inspired fud of “You can’t make money of Linux” is being ripped to shreds once again !
I guess I have to stop calling McNealy names for a while.
What I want to know is, how much Solaris x86 are they selling? Sun has gotten a substantial number of their partners to port their wares to x86.
This might attract legal action from SCO!!!
Good job Sun!!!
Well, IMHO you did have good reason for sledging Scott. If the new guru of software at SUN and his idea pays off, aka, Project Orion and Project Madhatter, it should be a VERY interesting situation, ALSO, I have heard there is a “partnership” between Ximian so watch this space for XD2 being made available for Solaris Sparc and their Linux distro 😉 wink wink, knudge knudge 😉
Im very happy about Sun:) Sun is cool and innovative company, especially i like and use java and openoffice. I am relatively new java developer, some 3 months already doing webapps with linux+java+tomcat+xml. So far i like java much, simply feels more professional than php/perl to me.
scotts teeth.
I’ve been doing professional web development since 2000 and I can assure you that it is more professional indeed. It is even more professional than ASP/COM+.
You should try adding Ant and JUnit to your toolbox too! 😉
good. good.
Maybe the SUN knockers will be quiet now.
It is a bit rainy in Norway right now, but . . . . . . .happy happy happy !
Believe it or not, I got pretty tired of all the “Sun is dying” comments, analogous to what the apple folk tolerate. Sun is a multibillion dollar commercial enterprise. They aren’t just going to steadily plummet without a fight. Amoung all of the buzzwords and zealotry, Sun have continued to create feature-complete, usable and robust hardware/software ever since their shareprice started plummeting. Most of their customers never went away, they just bought cautiously for a while.
This is a very pleasing day for.. me anyway. Oh, and shareholders I spose
I assume that you’ve heard of the news about SUN’s new RAD based on netbeans which should allow Java to replace VB.
It has been said on numerous occasions that McNealy and Ellison are good friends. I wonder if Ellison had anything to do with McNealy becoming a born-again linux fan (at least when Scott’s wallet is in peril) ?
ACE?
Aspect-Oriented Programming?
have heard about it few years ago in java.sun.com.
Well the latest issue of Wired has a big article on Sun/Scott’s current slide (how they “lost” the linux wars) and what their expectations are for a comeback.
After reading that article this press release seems like a goodly amount of corporate spin. It is after all a press release written by the company. The proof will be in the financials I guess.
Hopefully things ARE turning around..
No, its called RAVE and is mentioned at http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn
I wonder if you guys actually red the press release? I don’t see anything to get excited about here .. and from a strategic point of view, I still don’t see anything that guarantees SUN’s survival in the long run.
And what’s this crap about taking the number 1 spot in the dwindling Unix market? That too is fine, but I’d like to see them get into other markets.
I would definitely be happy to see them bounce back, though.
surely i heard about ace, but thats j2ee rad tool.
i didn’t hear about rave. actually there is no need for sun to make rad tool targetting vb developers in my opinion. they are branching between .net and java nearly fifty fifty already.
sun is talking about creating a rad tool to attract windows developers for a long time though. they are trying to create something wizard ridden like vs i guess. maybe what you have seen is something about it.
i stopped reading zdnet, since they take side. they are not objective at all. they even have a corner for the charlatan called john carroll. you probably know the guy. as a mono lover, eugenia is making osnews news bullet from every one of idiot’s ‘articles’ condemning java and licking .net.
Hence the reason why I can’t be bothered reading their columns. I read their news and that is it. On occasions I’ll respond to the people shouting in the cheap seats, otherwise, I see no reason why I should read the opinions of so-called journalists, dot-com chairleaders and sycophants to the lastest trendy thing that has been released.
As for Java as a VB replacement, I see that as a future as ultimately some of these part time developers may later on decide to become fulltime programmers. Why not grab them early with Java? Also, by encourging Java development it will completely their plan. They’re integrating Java into StarOffice so that macros can be written in it, and now they’re making it easier to write small font end programs to databases and stuff.
Once this is done, then organisations can have a true hetrogeneous network made up of Mac’s, Windows and *NIX if they so wish.
All right, all right, all right!!! Lets’ get this BTD started off right. Since
everyone else likes to make assumptions, allegations, conspiracy theorums and
over generalized opinions, I thought it was time to go out on my own. Start
my own universe as it were, start building my own reality.
SUN is dying ….. bah
Begin Rant
First off, does anyone know the last time the SPARC processor was completely
revamped? SUN lists systems available with the UltraSPARC III Cu processor, up
to 1.2 Ghz. SPARC International lists the UltraSPARC III as “Not Yet Available.”
So we’ve got a 64 bit processor that apparently tops out at 1.2 Ghz, but is
capable of doing some massive SMP functions. But is the old girl getting long
in the teeth?
The recent technology advancements in processors have landed some pretty
heavy muscle right on SUN’s front door step. Intel has the Itanium which
has been working hard to get all the kinks out of the Alpha aquired tech
that has gone into the new chips. AMD has the Sledgehammer (Opteron
official name?) which holds some backwards compatibility to 32 bit x86
for legacy software. We’ve also got IBM coming up fast and steady with the
rumored release of the PowerPC 970 around the corner.
SUN in my opinion is doing some things a little wrongly. Mainly in offering
any ATX “white box” based hardware at all. But primarily in offering their
“white box” systems in a server flavor while refusing the entire time to
remove the blinders from their eyes. Linux isn’t just for the white room any
more. Why do they offer “white box” systems? Money. Why do they build
high end 64 way Enterprise mainframes? Money. They are a business after
all, and they are missing the point.
IBM isn’t building the PowerPC 970 for Apple as many rumors say. I
firmly believe that IBM is building the 970 for IBM. The fact that Apple will
be buying the processor for one or more of their machines is simply gravy
to the potatoes. IBM keeps looking at SUN and seeing the same thing I do.
No 64 bit powered Linux workstation available from the web store.
SPARC is not just SUN Microsystems. Many of the readers will already know
this, but to those who don’t, SPARC is much more than SUN. SUN developed
SPARC technology and in an effort to keep their own operating costs down
did what Apple learned from SUN. Don’t own your own chip
manufacturing facility. Just way too much overhead. Let someone else
that understands how to fabricate silicon do it for you, then buy the chips
from them. The current chips SUN uses are manufactured by Texas
Instruments. Yes, the calculator people fabricate the processors for the
SUNFire 10,000. It’s been that way a while.
But there have been others in the past as well. Weitek, Fujitsu, Ross (talk
about some great uses of the SPARC tech) I sometimes wonder how many
people know that they probably use a PowerPC processor everyday. They
have been in HP printers forever. They are great for embedded systems and
other such uses. Then I wonder how many of those people realize that the
UltraSPARC processor is used in the same way.
There are SPARC laptops, SPARC clones, embedded uses …. yet oddly, still
no pure 64 bit Linux workstations running around. SUN is already there,
they already have the tech, all they needed to do was allocate some
resources into UltraLinux. Then they could direct offer Linux on their
UltraSPARC workstation platforms as well.
Yet, as the rest of the industry is taking a tentative step forward into the
realm of 64 bit. A realm that IBM hopes if very lucrative with their own
version of the PPC 970 for Linux desktop use. SUN takes a step backward
into the 32 bit arena to sell low end servers with Linux and Solaris x86 as
an option.
My only reaction to this is …. What!?!?
Apple is rumored to be introducing the “G5” PPC 970 powered Macintosh
showcasing Panther at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference
(WWDC) on June 23rd. That’s barely two weeks away. Linux Journal covered
an article this month on the AMD Opteron with a 64 bit Linux as a
server solution. HP is pushing the Itanium2 and looking forward to
Microsoft’s new DataCenter 64 bit version of Windows. (Already available?)
SUN’s response is to intro 32 bit gear? When they could have offered full
SPARC gear, for the same price point, running a SUN derived version of
UltraLinux.
Maybe I can see why people keep saying other people are dying. Some of
these business decisions just don’t make sense to me.
Growing up SUN was the pinnacle of UNIX computing. Sure you had AIX from
IBM and HP-UX from Hewlett-Packard. But a beautiful pizza box could
always make a geek drool, even if they were an Alpha geek. I fought, and
I strived, and I clawed to learn how UNIX worked. Now I’m writing this
to you from a perfectly usable SPARCstation 5. Even though, over my
shoulder, a Pentium II system is running a random compile under Red Hat.
Somewhere along the way SUN lost something. I don’t know what, or how
it was lost, or if they can find it again. All I can say is I love my SPARC in
the same way I love my Apple G3.
There is something about both systems that endear them to the hearts of
their owners. Something almost tangible, from the bong of the Macs startup
chime to the firm and hearty beep of the SPARC power on sequence. They
have a flavor that can never come from an x86 derived “white box” built
to the lowest common denominator for the lowest common user.
SUN take heed. IBM is gearing up to release a new 64 bit “pizza box”
running a truly cool version of Linux. Geeks are bound to love it. Just look
at the geeks that are going insane over really really high priced CHRP PPC
Pegasos boxes that can run PPC linux. This thing whatever IBM calls it
probably won’t even cost that much, my theory runs that they will be very
comparable to an Apple version of the same chip. When that day arrives,
I may be forced to take a very considerable look.
Give us back the pizza box …… 64 bit SPARC …… running Linux …..
Then you will return as a Leader of the UNIX market.
End Rant
This has been my two cents, now that it’s off my chest, I’m going back to
sleep trolling.
Ja Ne
I agree, they don’t product SPARCs. SPARCs are a processor, just a processor, and the only SUN platform. SUN should be ADDING VALUE to Solaris instead of sitting on SPARC, look at what Linux is doing, Windows is doing, EVERY OS is doing – every one out there runs on multiple platforms.
Linux already has ports for the SPARC, in know that BSDs do as well. The real amazing thing would be to see Solaris running on an IBM Power 4+, yes a competitor. How about an Opteron version of Solaris, an Itanium version of Solaris… sure emphasize a platform as being preferred but don’t let the flavor of the month in CPU power change your focus on advancing the best OS out there, (imo)the SUN OS. Just offer the best OS for whatever platform and you will do much better than offering unpopular SPARCs just so you can get the Solaris OS. And don’t be scared if the Power 4+ or Itanium smokes the SPARC on some SPEC benchmark, maybe that would be a nice wake-up call.
The only thing Solaris has outside of SPARC is a crappy port to x86 that is a pale shadow of the SPARC version, with very limited appliation support… wahooo. SUN should be pushing SPARC with Linux, it could do nothing but further SPARCs. They should also continue to push hard for SPARC with Solaris…
but maybe… just maybe…
they should think about running Solaris on PowerPPC, or Itanium, or Opteron, or… make Solaris a ubiquitous platform regardless of processor type.
I know dirty words – but the point is – advance your technology and offer a far superior and more advanced product, instead of alot of useless pride.
Sun don’t want 64-bit SPARC Linux – it wouldn’t fit the strategy.
You want cheap? 32-bit x86 with Linux or Solaris.
You want 64-bit? UltraSPARC III with Solaris.
People often forget that Sun is a hardware company, not a software company. If customers demand cheap Linux kit, it’s better to give it to them than to let them get in bed with the competition, but it’s all about selling UltraSPARC based Sun boxes – have you seen the cool stuff in the SF[3|4|6]800 and the 15k? Sun are the only firm who do dynamic reconfiguration well.
So Sun have not helped the Linux developers port to UltraSPARC III, and haven’t done the development themselves. Why should they? They wouldn’t sell many of them with Linux anyway; if you’re spending $1m on hardware, you want an OS which supports *all* its features (such as dynamic reconfiguration), and Solaris knocks the pants off Linux with big SMP (like 24+ CPUs)