In its first major entrance into the Linux market, Sun Microsystems announced
it will distribute its Java business software to Caldera Systems and that Bell
Microproducts will develop a version of Linux to run on Sun's powerful
Sparc-based servers and workstations.
The Caldera deal means, Linux application developers will be able to write
Java-based business software for Linux. Sun expects to ship a Linux version of
Java 2 by mid-February. The Bell Microproducts announcement could have a major
impact on Sun in the long term as applications written for the free Red Hat
Linux OS will be able to run on Sun's network servers and engineering
workstations.
Sun said the move to Linux on the Sparc platform will be aimed at specific
markets where Linux has been particularly popular, including education. "In
certain applications where customers have selected Linux, notably in education,
R&D and Internet service provider markets, they can now run Linux on the
64-bit UltraSPARC processor," said Barbara Gordon, vice-president of Sun's
worldwide sales. Analysts noted that Sun is clearly hedging its bets by making
Linux available to its customer base. Not doing so would conceivable shut Sun
out from a market that appears set to explode as the free Linux OS has taken
over nearly a quarter of the server market. Among small and mid-size companies,
the penetration of Linux servers is even higher than that as companies are
replacing expensive NT servers with Linux which can run on the existing
Intel-based hardware, is more reliable than NT, and can be downloaded free.
Sun is also under pressure to answer the strong support IBM has thrown at the
Linux community, as the computer giant is trying to take marketshare away from
both Microsoft and Sun.