Sun's reconciliation with Microsoft and the promotion of former Software executive vice president Jonathan Schwartz to president and COO signals a sea change at Sun that could pave the way for growth.
"Microsoft wants to get the EU off its back, the Sun board wants McNealy to stop obsessing about Microsoft and start addressing the needs of Sun's customers, and Java/.Net integration and interoperability is at the crux of customer needs," said Anne Thomas Manes, vice president and research director of application platform strategies at the Burton Group.
Still, it's unclear how the 10-year technology-sharing pact will impact Sun's own support for Linux on the desktop and server. Sun currently sponsors a number of open-source projects, including NetBeans.org, OpenOffice.org, JXTA.org and SunSource.net. Sun has also invested heavily in the Linux platform, including desktop technology (Gnome, KDE, Java Desktop), application suites (StarOffice and OpenOffice) and platform infrastructure (Java Enterprise System, Java runtimes, application servers), but it hasn't really embraced Linux from the hardware system perspective, Manes said.
Despite all those efforts, Sun is viewed as being highly ambivalent about Linux and somewhat late to the party with its full support.
Solution providers in the Windows, Unix and Linux markets had widely varying views on how the pact will shape the computing and channel landscape.
Discover the benefits of scalable backbone and network services for application and cloud providers.
Network automation is gaining momentum. Here's how you can drive this powerful technology to its full potential.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
