REVENUE STRATEGY – SUN MICROSYSTEMS

1. Sun Microsystems is trying to make Linux fit.
2. It is willing to embrace open-software development methods, letting programmers contribute to the code used in what were once some of Sun's most closely guarded products, including Java and Solaris.
3. By June, Sun plans to complete the release all of the source code for its widely used Java programming language under the General Public License (GPL), the same agreement that governs Linux.
4. And Sun has spent the past two years trying to drum up interest in OpenSolaris, a version of its Unix operating system that developers can download free from Sun's Web site.
5. Sun is considering releasing Solaris under the GPL. The move could reinvigorate Sun by putting one of its crown jewels into the thick of the open-source movement—or it could diminish the worth of one of Sun's most valuable pieces of intellectual property. Releasing a GPL version of Solaris could obviate some of the technologies that make Solaris most appealing. It would be legal to take powerful software like DTrace out of Solaris and put it into Linux.
6. In Sun's view, more developers writing to its platform equals more revenue. Releasing Solaris under the GPL could catalyze large numbers of developers to write software that runs on Sun gear.
7. Technology in Sun's newest Sparc microprocessors, which have won rave reviews for performance, is also available under the GPL, as is most of Java.
8. Aligning the licensing rules for Sun's operating system, programming language, and chips could give companies new incentives to use them in tandem. It could also give Sun more firepower against IBM , which makes a fortune selling software and consulting services to companies that run Linux.
9. A GPL version of Solaris could give Sun instant credibility in the open-source world. Under the GPL, developers are free to lift and modify portions of the code that makes software products run, without the company that owns the code deriving any exclusive benefit from the changes.
10. Sun has been adding support for Web-friendly programming languages—like Perl, PHP, and Ruby—to Java, to appeal to the Silicon Valley startups the company is eager to court.

Some tech experts think all this is too late for Sun. The rest will wait and watch. Perhaps Sun will reinterpret the advice for motorists painted along the beautiful but accident prone roads in the hills of Darjeeling: “It’s better to be late Mr. Motorist than to be the Late Mr. Motorist”.

It’s better to be late Mr. Sun than to be the late Mr. Sun?

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