[ Thanks to Paul
Eggert for this link. ]
“How can you compete with something given away free? That has
been the question dogging big software firms, above all Microsoft,
ever since free (‘open-source’) programs made it into the
mainstream—notably Linux, which is now a serious rival to
costly proprietary operating systems such as Microsoft’s Windows.
It has also been the chief headache for Jonathan Schwartz since Sun
Microsystems put him in charge of its software business a year ago.
Although there has long been speculation that Linux might one day
kill Windows, Sun has always seemed a more plausible, and imminent,
victim of free software. But the Silicon Valley firm is now
fighting back: a new approach, the product of Mr Schwartz’s
labours, was unveiled on May 19th.“Aged 37 and pony-tailed, Mr Schwartz might easily be mistaken
for a hacker, or even for one of the Young Turks who developed
Linux just for the hell of it–though he also shares the aggression
and feistiness for which his boss, Scott McNealy, is well known. He
joined Sun in 1996 when it bought his software firm, Lighthouse
Design. After that, he was the driving force behind the Liberty
Alliance, an industry group developing a rival method to Microsoft
Passport for securely and easily moving personal details around the
internet. Seasoned observers of the industry are impressed by his
grasp of the complicated beast that is software. But will even that
be enough?“Ironically, for Sun, in contrast to Microsoft, Linux has been
less a software than a hardware challenge. Yes, the program is
free–but many firms use it mainly because it allows them to buy
cheap servers powered by Intel chips rather than more expensive Sun
boxes…”
For more insights on Sun’s Linux strategy, plan to attend
“Sun’s Enterprise Linux Strategy” session during next week’s
Enterprise
Linux Forum.