Sun warms to Intel and Linux
- Article 50 of 77
- Information Age, September 2002
Sun Microsystems is trying to prevent its customers from looking to other vendors for their Linux servers by producing one of its own.
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So while Sun is establishing its own version of Linux for distribution, it is basing heavily on a version of Linux developed by Red Hat, adding in drivers specific to Sun's hardware and improving some aspects of security. The open source philosophy of “share and share alike” has not gone down well at Sun.
Neil Ward-Dutton, research director for Ovum's e-infrastructure group, says Sun's Linux strategy is just represents “a number of tactical, reactive moves that will buy the company time while it figures out how to grow its business long-term. They firm up Sun's public commitment to the platform, while not radically altering their direction in any way.”
Sun's announcement, he says, shows that the company is now aware that it has to be more up-front about how it responds to customers' demands for Linux, and the LX50 fills a perceived gap in the company's product line.
“In the absence of a well thought-out strategy, this latest raft of announcements is accompanied by the deafening sound of Sun treading water,” he says. So while Sun's shift in strategy may convince customers it is committed to their low-end requirements in the short-term, ultimately, its heart will always be with Solaris.
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