Sun Microsystems to make Solaris code available

BANGALORE: Sun plans to open the source code for its Solaris operating system in hopes of replicating the success of Linux. However, the company has said that instead of giving away the source code free, it would release Solaris code under its "community-source license.

Community-source licensing will allow programmers to download and change Solaris code, provided they include open interfaces to the software they develop and report glitches to Sun and other programmers. Developers using Solaris code for non-commercial applications will not have to pay, while those using the code for commercial programs will pay licensing fee to Sun. Sun's agreement differs from Linux rules

because Linux is free even for commercial use, although users must publicly post changes to the code. In opening Solaris' source code, Sun aims to establish Solaris as the leading OS for Internet sites as well as corporate data centers.