Those who hope Sun will open-source all of its software products anytime soon are in for a big disappointment. Sun executives, including president Jonathan Schwartz and John Loiacono, the executive vice president for software, have all repeatedly said that the company intends to open-source its entire software stack over time. However, they have not been specific about the time frame for that, which has left the impression that it is imminent. But Simon Phipps, Sun's chief open-source officer, said in an interview that this process is not going to be rushed and will not happen quickly.
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Member since:Not really sure why this is news.
Admitting to vulnerability in this forum isn't going to get you any dates. (^;
No link back to Maureen O'Gara's article that I pulled the following quote from. It's available from other [read reputable] sources, I'm sure.
"We are going to be interested in seeing how they do that because we own Unix. We own the copyrights and the patents," Novell CEO Jack Messman said during Novell's Q4 earnings call Thursday. "Solaris is somewhat built on that."
That was a year ago (Nov. '04). OpenSolaris now exists in the wild and no further comments have been made by Novell that I am aware of.
Perhaps the news is that Sun has made OS available without publishing any encumbered code and that they are slowly heading that direction with other pieces of their stack.
In case you might think that the current process appears to be slow consider this (from Jan of '94):
"UG470-01 SUN TO STRIKE OUT ON ITS OWN: BUYS OUT UNIX SOURCE RIGHTS FROM NOVELL
Sun Microsystems Inc was reportedly closeted with Novell Inc last week cutting a deal to buy out the rights to its Unix-based Solaris source code. The purchase, which insiders said could cost Sun anywhere from $90m to $125m, would mean it never again has to pay royalties for its operating system to Unix's titular owner.
It would also allow Sun to license the code to other Unix vendors, develop the thing in its own way and collect all the royalties for itself. This would effectively elevate Sun to the position of "Second Rome" in opposition to Novell's tarnished orthodoxy, possibly refragmenting the industry along major new fault lines and driving despairing OEMs into the Microsoft Corp Windows NT fold. The move is a logical one for Sun, which has been dead set on such a course since the middle of last year when its SunSoft unit organised a swat team to proselytse Solaris among Unix OEMs and top PC houses (UX No 453). Its first convert
was Amdahl Corp (UX No 454).
Last week's deal was said to cover only Unix SVR4-derived code, putting potential customers Hewlett-Packard Co and IBM Corp beyond Sun's immediate reach unless it can persuade them to the unthinkable - adopting Solaris. HP-UX and AIX are derived from pre-SVR4 Unixes. HP, however, is believed to currently be negotiating the rights to its HP-UX binaries from Novell. Sun is expected to pay Novell about $15m this year in binary royalties. Projecting on the price Sun could be paying - probably around the $100m mark - it could represent five or six year worth of royalties provided its market maintains current levels. Unix System Labs, under either AT&T Co or Novell, never cut such a deal to knowingly set up its own competition. In the only other arrangement that is the least bit similar, Cray Research Inc last year bought out its source code license, but the intention was in no way the same. Its customers need source code and were used to buying it and paying royalties to both USL and Cray. Novell is said to be aware of the risk it is running letting Sun set itself up as an alternative Unix source. However, it is also apparently betting that it can outmarket Sun with its SVR4.2 UnixWare kit.
Currently, it looks a foolish bet since it reportedly sold only 35,000 packages since the thing hit the market 13 months ago. Sun, on the other hand, has been meeting considerable resistance to its Solaris 2.x software, with its users reportedly forming "4.1.3 or Die" clubs. Observers are highly sceptical that the number of Solaris 2.x units SunSoft says it has shipped are actually in use, and the success of its swat team effort has yet to be proven."
So 12 years between buying up the rights from Novell and releasing OS seems like a long time to me. Maybe they are being cautious instead of wishy washy as some might call them.
Member since:2005-10-19
Member since:
2005-11-15
Not really sure why this is news.