"Linux is enjoying growth, with a contingent of devotees too
large to be called a cult following at this point. Solaris,
meanwhile, has thrived as a longstanding, primary Unix platform
geared to enterprises. But with Linux the object of all the buzz in
the industry, can Sun's rival Solaris Unix OS hang on, or is it
destined to be displaced by Linux altogether?
"Sun officials believe the 16-year-old Solaris platform remains
a pivotal, innovative platform. But at the Linux Foundation, there
is a no-conciliatory stance; the attitude there is to tell Solaris
and Sun to move out of the way. 'The future is Linux and Microsoft
Windows,' says foundation Executive Director Jim Zemlin. 'It is not
Unix or Solaris.'
"Solaris, he said, has almost no new deployments and is a legacy
operating environment offered by a company with financial
difficulties. Original equipment manufacturers also do not see a
bright future for Solaris, he claims."
