Slashdot Mirror
Sun Gets Open Source Into NSW Government
lplatypus writes "ZDNet Australia reports that Sun Microsystems has "has cleared a place for its Java Enterprise System on the NSW government's software shelf, continuing its campaign to weaken Microsoft's monopoly over the desktop." The Age clarifies that Sun's offering includes open source components such as Linux, Gnome, Mozilla and Evolution. Another article is at Australian IT, or see Sun's press release."
On the contrary, I'm doing computer science in a university in NSW and our main UNIX servers (on SPARCs) run SunOS while some labs triple boot Win2k, Linux and Solaris. Since most of our code are to be compiled and checked on the SunOS servers and we use several Sun tools, there has been some interest by students to acquire Solaris under the free binary program.
Sun is very much alive in my uni.
No, it won't be, at least for this first release.
... and yes, Sun does submit back as required)
... that's per system, not per user, so it may be more beneficial in some situations and less in other.
Java Desktop System, aka Mad Hatter, is built on top of SuSE Linux Desktop 1.0. Since SLD is a non-free distribution, Sun hasn't secured the rights to put it up for download.
Right now JDS is integrated into the basic install process along with the branded SuSE distribution, therefore it is not available as a separate add-on CD like Ximian Desktop 2.
I'm not saying it never will be able to do something like this, only that this initial release will not. In the future it may be possible download in some form when JDS runs on additional platforms.
Of course, you can build a nearly functional equivalent using whatever Open Source OS you wanted along with the various desktop softwares. Some (not all) of the things you won't get will be:
* The Evolution Sun ONE Calendar Server connector
* The "Blueprint" theme / look / feel
* Various improvements to each of the software modules (unless you incorporate the Sun patches which have not yet been incorporated into the main project trees
* Improved Internationalization / Localization (though this first release will have limited improvements here)
Also, it's $50/year/user, but to get that pricing you have to have a Java Enterprise System (JES) subscription (which is $100/user/year, making it $150/user/year for JES + JDS).
There is a separate JDS shrinkwrap pricing model which is $100/system/year
It is more productive to voice thoughtful opinions (reply) than to judge (moderate) others.
Err, you do realize that the "Java Desktop" is just what Sun is calling their desktop environment (consisting of Gnome, Evolution, and the like) which really has very little to do with Java at all?