Sun Executive Airs Support for Linux

A key software executive at Sun Microsystems says the Palo Alto, California-based maker of Unix systems has been portrayed wrongly as being opposed to Linux.

"We are strong supporters of Linux, but we don't sell any Intel hardware, so we don't sell it," said Simon Phipps, chief evangelist for software products and platforms at Sun. "You can be a strong supporter of something without shipping it."

In an interview with Computerworld Philippines, Phipps pointed to Sun's contributions to the GNOME desktop environment as one example of Sun's support for Linux. Just last month, Sun announced that it would adopt GNOME as the default desktop environment on its Solaris operating system, in a move that observers say will move its version of Unix closer to Linux.

"Linux is about an open source community-based platform, and we produce applications that run on Linux," Phipps added. He said StarOffice, for example, addresses the needs of Unix and Linux users alike for a full-featured office productivity suite. "We will continue to get new business, and we will continue to develop on Linux and support it." Phipps also noted that Sun recently announced that it would release the source code of StarOffice under the GNU General Public License, a popular open- source licensing model. The move would allow software developers to modify the product to suit their needs.

On the other hand, Phipps said it is unlikely that Sun will support Linux on its workstations and servers the way IBM does, because Solaris is optimized for Sun's hardware.

"If we were to do it, one would ask why we were doing it. We are a business, and we would rather you buy one of our computers," Phipps said. "Linux is a great start, but this is a matter of our agreeing on standards but competing on the implementation."

At the same time, Phipps said, there's also been a lot of misunderstanding about Sun's decision to pull Java out of two standards bodies, a move that he said aimed to ensure Java compatibility across multiple platforms.

"Compatibility is what people get with Java," Phipps said. "Binary compatibility is everything. We want open standards around Java. It's very close to our hearts, but we haven't found a way to enforce compatibility (via the standards bodies) so that customers will continue to enjoy interoperability. The day someone shows me a way to open-source Java and have compatibility, then we'll do it."

In the meantime, Phipps said, Sun's approach, called JCP2, is a compromise that brings an open process to the development of Java. Under JCP2, Phipps said, Java can only be altered if the JCP2 governing committee and Sun itself agree on the change. He described this as a "temporary solution that is likely to last a fair while."

On the wireless front, Phipps said he was surprised that embedded Java has not taken off as rapidly as he expected. He attributed this to the lack of global standards for wireless technology. The three biggest markets for wireless, for example, don't agree on what standard to use, he said.

At the same time, however, Sun is covering its bases by partnering with all the major wireless providers, such as Nokia Corp. and NTT DoCoMo Inc., he said. "So when the wave breaks, it will have Sun written all over it."

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