On Mon, 2004-11-22 at 23:41, Steven Buehler wrote:
> Slashdot is reporting that Sun's next version of Solaris is going to
> be open-sourced and given away for free. I'm in the process of
> downloading Solaris 10 for evaluation as I write.
I don't see how they will turn it all into Freedomware (open standard,
open source). Most specifically, I don't see how they can turn the
kernel into Freedomware. Like Microsoft, Sun was not a perpetual AT&T
System V licensee. And like Microsoft, they recently negotiated a new
license from SCO because of this. So I seriously doubt SCO would let
them "open source" the kernel without restrictions that would prevent it
becoming GPL or other Freedomware.
>From what I have read, Solaris 10 is going to be more of a "user-space
shift." If so, this would be Sun's third in its history:
Original v1: BSD through SunOS 4.1 (4.1 retroactively = Solaris 1)
Current v2: System V in SunOS 5.x (aka Solaris 2.x**)
Assumed v3: GNU in (?) SunOS 6.x (Solaris 3.x**?)
**NOTE: Starting with SunOS/Solaris 5.7/2.7, the version prefix is
dropped, hence Solaris 7, 8, 9, etc... for SunOS/Solaris 5.7/2.7,
5.8/2.8 and 5.9/2.9. So I assume this would be SunOS/Solaris 6.0/3.0 in
Solaris 10? At least if they make the shift to a GNU-centric user-space
set of software.
SunOS is already the most GNU-aligned UNIX Standardware (open standard,
closed source), because it _was_ the original GNU platform for
development of GCC1, GLibC1, etc... I can only assume Sun is now making
it more official, instead of just indirectly supporting Freedomware with
bundled CDs or funding of sites like Sunfreeware.COM.
If Sun can figure out a way to completely Freedomware (open standard,
open source) the kernel, then I'll be shocked. Even if they are able to
"open source" it, it will be bogged down with contractual recognition of
SCO IP because of their recent re-license (in absence of a perpetual
license from AT&T, _unlike_ nearly all other UNIX vendors). So don't be
shocked when its under something like a Sun Community Source License
(SCSL) or more restrictive.
In any case, I think it's a great move. The SunOS/SPARC platform scales
a heck of a lot better than Linux/x86 (as do most RISC/UNIX platforms).
Many would argue that it scales better than Linux/IA-64 as well
(something I'm sure SGI would dispute). So it will be interesting to
see how well SunOS/x86-64 can scale, as Sun is moving in that direction
with Opteron.
Right now, other than a few, proprietary approaches by Cray and others,
Opteron is really a 4/8-way solution before you start having to add
bridging interconnect. Don't get me wrong, it scales a crapload better
than even any proprietary Xeon approach I've seen, let alone Intel's
basic "Scalable Node" marketing BS for IA-64 (which is still "front-side
bottleneck" approach) and at a lower price-point than proprietary IA-64
(like SGI's). So will be interesting to see what Sun can do with a
combined SunOS/x86-64 solution, while offering Linux/x86-64 at the same
time.
-- Bryan J. Smith b.j.smith@ieee.org -------------------------------------------------------------------- Subtotal Cost of Ownership (SCO) for Windows being less than Linux Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) assumes experts for the former, costly retraining for the latter, omitted "software assurance" costs in compatible desktop OS/apps for the former, no free/legacy reuse for latter, and no basic security, patch or downtime comparison at all.----------------------------------------------------------------------- This list is provided as an unmoderated internet service by Networked Knowledge Systems (NKS). Views and opinions expressed in messages posted are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of NKS or any of its employees.
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