Slashdot Mirror
Sun Steps Back from Linux JDS
chill writes "ZD Net UK is reporting that Sun is pulling back from their JDS desktop Linux initiative. The big question is what happened to those half-million to million-plus units that were supposed to ship in China in 2004? One hint may be that in April, Novell announced a deal with CSSC to 'cooperate to provide technology, services and marketing to optimise and promote Linux to the Chinese market.' Sun's JDS was based on SUSE Linux, now owned by Novell."
Sun still runs things like oracle rather well. A lot of big companies continue to run Sun to keep their precious oracle databases running in a somewhat reliable manner. While Linux on hefty hardware can run oracle, and oracle in windows is a joke, you'd really need to bump up to Intel 64bit to really get close to how solaris can do it.
But that's about all I see solaris good for lately. Everything else is run a lot cheaper and faster on linux.
That means the Gnome, Java-for-desktop-apps and Open Office efforts will keep on, and they'll switch kernels on the desktop offering.
davecb@spamcop.net
You need only check their website.
e ases/pr/2005-q2.html
http://www.sun.com/aboutsun/investor/earnings_rel
Sales of software, operating systems, Sparc and x86 servers, and providing services.
Actually sir... that's not... entirely... true.
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." -- Goethe
On a related note, IBM has, contrary to your claim of "jumping off", just posted an article detailing the changes they will be contributing to Linux to take full advantage of the astonishing horsepower of the Cell chip.
STFU about slashdot bias.
Yeah, but have you ever used RHN?
Log into a single web site, see every server in your stable, along with every package installed, every patch that is pending, all your system info about each server, etc.
It's the -service- that makes RedHat Enterprise the top tier Enterprise Linux, not the software.
bash-3.00$ uname -a
SunOS panda 5.10 Generic sun4u sparc SUNW,Ultra-2
We had a presentation from some Sun guys, and they basically spent the entire session apologising for the fact that JDS didnt offer the latest packages e.g. 'if youre looking for the latest and greatest, JDS won't give it to you'.
I mean, why even bother doing it if youre going to settle for half-assed - and then tell your customers upfront you want them to pay for half-assed...
Needless to say nobody present left the meeting feeling very excited about where Sun was going with JDS.
Personally, I think dumping Linux is an understandable move in the larger scheme of things - ultimately Solaris is the OS that Sun wants to see succeed, but signalling a lack of support in the JDS offering is baffling.
There is absolutely no reason why JDS shouldnt run on OpenSolaris and offer the same experience as Linux - it seems that Sun, having finally come to the realisation that an old version of GNOME (which is hardly flawless in it's latest iteration) is a tough sell, especially when compared side-by-side with highly polished offerings from Microsoft and Apple.
So, instead of doing something about the obvious flaws in their product - Or god forbid come up with something better - they publically throw in the towel, with a vague suggestion that they might decide to have another half-assed attempt at it in future.
I mean, GNOME and the rest of the Linux desktop is going to improve and will compete head-on with the best that the rest have to offer, and the day will come when Sun will have to try and re-enter the market with a revised offering and explain away this flip-flopping, which isn't going to be at all easy.
Does nobody at Sun get that this is a pathetic, embarrassing show of weakness?
I gots ta ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long