Linux was first released in September, 1991. Sun Microsystem’s UNIX-based Solaris operating system goes back to a product called SunOS which was first introduced in 1983. Solaris debuted in the early 1990’s, and an open source version of Solaris, called OpenSolaris, came out about two years ago, in June 2005.
Over the last two years Sun has tried to capture some of Linux’s momentum. OpenSolaris is the only open source variant of the Unix System V series, one of two major types of UNIX, the other being BSD. IBM’s proprietary AIX system is also based on Unix System V.
After many years of trying to sell a commercial package of the Solaris OS running on the proprietary Sparc processor, Sun has opened up and has offered an x86 version of Solaris for some time. Competitors like HP and IBM continue to offer single-platform proprietary versions of Unix.
Sun has seen the incredible success that Linux has had with their open source distribution and development model. They’ve also been around a lot longer than Linux and, by many standards, have a better product.
OpenSolaris has been around for two years and has gotten recognition, but it still far lags behind the mindshare and momentum that Linux has seen. One problem that Sun will never be able to shed is the fact that, unlike Linux, as a commercial entity, people will always have some amount of suspicion as to the control and motivation behind decisions Sun makes for how the product will evolve.
Another factor holding back greater acceptance of OpenSolaris is that it hasn’t been that easy to install. Linux has an easy binary-based install available, and Sun does not. To solve that problem, Sun has launched project Indiana with the goal of creating a binary install from a CD that will include both the Operating System and desktop environment.
Sun hopes that by simplifying the installation process that they can reduce one more roadblock that may be holding back greater acceptance of their operating system. A side effect and benefit from growing a wider community around OpenSolaris should be the community contributions that can be taken and rolled back into the product.
Sun plans to make the Indiana binary release available sometime in 2008. Bringing competition and more choice into the world of open source can only be a good thing.
