Solaris goes open source

The OpenSolaris source code includes the core operating system, networking, system libraries, and commands. Versions of it are available for the Sparc platform and 64bit x86 architectures.

Developers and customers will be able to take advantage of all the features of the Solaris 10 operating system, including Dynamic Tracing (DTrace), containers and predictive self-healing, according to the company.

Some developers welcomed the release. In a statement on Sun’s web site, Rich Teer of web hosting company Rite Online said, “OpenSolaris presents a unique opportunity to see, modify and redistribute the source code to a world-class 64bit operating system.”

But Dan Kusnetzky, vice-president of system software for analyst firm IDC, said it remains to be seen whether the wider open-source community will be attracted to OpenSolaris “or if Sun has done the right things to make it exciting”.

The success of OpenSolaris may also depend on whether Sun can get vendors such as Intel to certify that the operating system will be supported on their products, Kusnetzky added.

Sun added that it plans to open source other components of the Solaris operating system, such as the installation tools, and will work to open up code to which third parties still hold the rights.

‹ www.sun.com/opensolaris

‹ www.rite-online.net