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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."
One of the things I haven't been able to figure out (probably haven't looked hard) is if MadHatter is going to be avaiable for free download. I know Sun is trying to make a little money off of corporations (that 100/year/user thing), but what about the rest of us?
Hmm... this would seem to be a good thing for Open Source... except, how Open Source is Sun's Java Enterprise System? Admittedly, this is the first I've really looked into it.
However, the company has to overcome heavy market inertia favouring Microsoft's proprietary server and client software product sets, particularly its ubiquitous office productivity suite Microsoft Office.
Why does everybody always point the finger at Office? While it's a pain in the foot to deal with those .doc files if you don't use it (converters and built-in support aside), the problem (at least where I work -- would this not hold true in most places?) is that our _vendors_ for our company specific software (in our case, Insurance, but friends of mine who work in the medical or automotive fields would say the same thing) base their solutions around Windows workstations and Windows servers. I can't very well ditch Windows in my Enterprise environment without a comparable solution to do what we need (manage an Independent Insurance Agency) in Linux/Unix/Apple/whatever.
Does anybody realistically see that changing anytime soon?
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Perhaps their stock will go up in the coming weeks. If Sun does in fact have a future that doesn't end in bankruptcy or in the belly of some other corporation, then their stock price been seriously undervalued for quite some time now, at 1/20th of what it was in 2000.
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.
"...continuing its campaign to weaken Microsoft's monopoly over the desktop." Just keep chipping away. It isn't going to happen tomorrow, but every little movement counts.
-Magiluke
Earl Grey, Hot.
However Madhatter is largely based on GPLed software. GPL is (despite our BSD loving friends' statements to the contrary) an assurance that pretty much all of Madhatter will be free and "the rest of us" therefore will be able to enjoy any contribution that Sun Makes to Gnome or mozilla.
And it of course goes without saying that we will be able to enjoy the advancements in java that will occur when Sun integrates it more with the Linux desktop. (including the usage of GTK in java's UI allowing java programs to work better with GTK programs and even slightly better with QT based programs.
When Argumentum ad Hominem falls short, try Argumentum ad Matrem
Sun has to get this sort of support, but from larger governments and organizations, if the stock market is to ever look upon Sun's stock(SUNW) as positive and solid ever again. Once upon a time, many may forget, but there was indeed a time when Sun was well over 60 dollars a share, and the stock market was beaming with joy at the little server company that could. Then, the econonomic bubble exploded, (or imploded, you could say), and Sun started to decline in spite of small innovations, their competitors became too heavy. Sun's new offerings, specifically the Java Virtual Desktop System, are very good looking, and I am a Sun investor at 4.07(now at 3.55), and I hope others may buy into Sun's [lucrative] price.
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?
Separate from whether it is a -good- thing or not, Sun has no plans to get rid of Solaris now or anytime in the predictable future. Java Desktop System is planned to be running on Solaris in the next 12 months or less (of course that could slip).
Getting into Linux does not automatically mean killing off established offerings. In this case it made sense since the current low-end and corporate desktop spaces pretty much demands Linux or Windows (I wouldn't call Mac hardware low-end due to cost nor have I seen OSX with major acceptance in the corporate space). Solaris continues to be the choice of Sun's high-end hardware customers.
That's actually one of the great things about JDS, by running on both with the same codebase and features for the core components (GNOME, StarOffice, Mozilla, Evolution, Java and to a lesser extent GAIM and some of the extra utilities) Sun's customers can get an abstracted environment that looks and functions the same whether it runs Solaris or Linux. Until they get to the system administration or power user levels the end-user won't need to worry about which system they are on.
While yes, that means in the near future that a customer could transition from a big expensive SPARC box down to a less expensive x86 PC without retraining skills, it also means the reverse. The reverse may not be as common as the original premise, but it still is a barrier removal.
The first release of JDS is essentially a standalone product with no more remote management or administration features than any other Linux distro. The next couple of releases afterwards are going to be geared toward making big deployments easier for larger organizations. As that happens the idea of switching to various other Sun solutions like SunRay clients and more powerful workstations becomes more plausible. Not required or locked in, just more plausible. If a company wants to only use x86 PC hardware, they will be perfectly capable of doing so. However having choices can't be bad.
It is more productive to voice thoughtful opinions (reply) than to judge (moderate) others.
nope.
calling it 'sun linux' wouldn't have been that smart, 'sun desktop system' sure, but there's no point for them to limit the system to linux(for future migration to any os they want).
general _users_ don't care *shit* if it's name has 'java', and sys admins and decision makers should be smart enough to look into their decisions under the skin(_should_ be, having the java in the name can swing the decision both ways with clueless retards).
if you want to check out a 'java desktop' check out jdistro
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
The article just says 'Mozilla Browser', I wonder whether this means Mozilla or Firebird?
On another (possibly related note), the front page of Mozilla.org is displaying the following message:
Mozilla Foundation Launches Mozilla 1.5, End User Services
We are pleased to announce new versions of Mozilla 1.5, the award winning Internet suite, and new Technology Preview releases of Mozilla Firebird (version 0.7) and Mozilla Thunderbird (version 0.3).
Maybe this and Sun's announcement have been timed so they purposefully coincide?
When anger rises, think of the consequences.
Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC)
Wow, Sun is really busy today, what with all the flare ups and stuff. I wonder how Sun's stock is doing. Hot perhaps? Hmmmm?
Exactly why they chose the name they did.
... there were a lot of long debates between various groups on naming. As one might imagine, "Sun Desktop System" as well as other options were all considered. However, Sun has decided across the board to use the "Java [variable] System" naming scheme for the software product suites (Java Enterprise System rebranding for the various Sun ONE components, etc). Essentially "Java" becomes the software brand (with exceptions like Solaris, which is a good thing since calling Solaris something like the "Java Operating System" would be REALLY bad and would also be exclusive of Linux) and "Sun" becomes the hardware brand.
Sun is trying to expand recognition of the new products by leveraging the existing recognition of the "Java" name and its association with Sun.
Naturally there are going to be plenty of folks who think it's just plain off-base, but those people already know Sun and Java in depth. The idea is to get into the minds of the people who aren't as familiar with either but who still have a low-level association and recognition of the names.
Java as a technology is still important and is being showcased in this product.
FWIW, I'm not saying pro or con on this decision
It will take some getting used to, but at least it is consistent enough that it will eventually make sense and apply to more than just this one product as long as that consistency is retained for a long time.
It is more productive to voice thoughtful opinions (reply) than to judge (moderate) others.
that's $15,000 NOT $150,000. If you only need madhatter it's 100 * 100 = $10,000
Sun is using open source to fill in big gaps in their software offerings, but what they sell also has a significant proprietary component. In particular, a lot of the Java-related products are proprietary.
On balance, this is probably still good for open source and open systems. But we have to be wary of Sun: they are not an open source company, and many of their efforts are not in the best interest of the open source community.
To sum up: YOUR FULL OF SHIT
It's 'you're.' That's 'you're.' As in 'you are.' 'You are.' That is, if I wanted to say 'You are a fucking moron,' I might shorten that to: 'You're a fucking moron.' You fucking moron.
Actually, I believe the esteemed gentleman was using the noun form of the verb "to full," meaning "To make (a garment) full, as by pleating or gathering." Therefore "a full" refers to an attempt to full a garment. Clearly, a full of shit would then be the fulling of a garment using shit; the shit would likely be sewn into the garment between multiple layers of cloth.
One may wish to consider a synthetic fabric for such work, as natural fibers tend to be too porous for containing shit in polite company. The use of a sewing machine will allow you to form a tighter seal. In addition, drying the shit thoroughly before insertion into the garment is adviseable. The generous application of antibacterial chemicals and preservatives will prevent decomposition of the shit and maintain its consistency-you don't want your dress to start sagging halfway through the party because your shit is rotten.
In conclusion, the poster who wrote "YOUR FULL OF SHIT" is guilty only of using a sentence fragment and excessive capitalization. Perhaps he is operating under the assumption that fulling a garment with shit is a disgraceful procedure. He might then attempt to insult with the mere implication that an attempt to full with shit happened, just as one might use the sentence fragment "YOUR MOM" as an insult.
If that is the case, he is clearly behind the times. Natural Organically Enhanced Fabrics are the big thing next season! All the environmentally correct fashion shows currently feature sylish designer Organic Wear such as shit-fulled ball gowns. Remember, ladies, nature knows best-you only need to know how to sew to keep nature from calling at the wrong time!
I'm no Linux/Open Source zealot, and have little time for those who are. I don't even particularly hate Microsoft (I hate using most of their products, but that's another story), but it makes me angry to even think about the amount of the taxpayer's money that they cream off, when there are free solutions that work equally well. This is a good start at least.
What I'd *really* like to see isn't just the OS replaced on workers' desktop PCs, but a lot of those PCs replaced with VTs. Cheap to buy, cheap to run, and set up to provide only the applications people need to do their job. No tossing it off on the web all day, no Internet usage policies, no clueless outsourced PC support department, just a big old Unix server (or two) conencted to dumb terminals, with users trained in the one or two pieces of software they really need. Not suitable for everyone of course, but perfect for a lot of setups. I'm going OT I know. Sorry.