04.28.08
Novell+Ximian=SLED.NET, Sun+Java=SuSE GNU/Linux/Solaris
Has Novell derailed SuSE?
Hardcore and dedicated users of SuSE Linux were either receptive or cautiously optimistic when Novell snatched SuSE. This whole thing happened with IBM’s assistance and endorsement, but both IBM and Novell are proprietary software companies. As we mentioned the other day, a substantiated rumour came up about Red Hat's past consideration or attempts to buy SuSE and it’s interesting to find out now about Sun’s involvement too (before it entered the open source arena).
Chew on that last one for a bit. Way back in 2002/2003, Sun might have been in the Linux business, while Novell might have kept fiddling with NetWare (but more likely would have gone actively into the open-source applications realm, following on its acquisition of Ximian). We would have been living in a very different open-source industry if things had gone Sun’s way back then.
Better? Worse? I don’t know. But different.
As we pointed out yesterday, Novell is now just harming Sun at the moment, and not just because of its less-than-wanted interventions with OpenOffice.org, OOXML support and OpenSolaris FUD. Might it accept Sun’s offer of Java out of the box? That might be the real test or faith and commitement. From the news:
Sun woos Linux distros with bundle deals
The goal is for distros to come with Sun’s open source Java Enterprise Edition project Glassfish, the NetBeans development framework, and the Java Standard Edition project OpenJDK.
Sun is reaching out to Debian, after parts of Glassfish began showing up in the distro – Sun would, obviously, like to see all of Glassfish ship with Debian.
Sun is also working to build on early work with Ubuntu. As of now, OpenJDK is available in the Hardy Heron release of Ubuntu.
It’s truly confirmed now that, as the following article exclaims, “Java [to be] 100 per cent open source by end of this year.”
Sun is to open source the last closed-source parts of Java, a move that should make it possible to fully integrate the software into Linux distributions.
Will Novell jump on board? Miguel is boasting Google’s investment in Mono projects, which is pretty much a move against Java (the GPL’s new friend), if not Google as well. What is Novell thinking? It is a lot more committed to Microsoft than it is to Sun, let alone Red Hat and Ubuntu. Diplomacy plays a considerable role here, but if Novell increasingly sidles with Microsoft, then it will — by association — become a greater enemy of the GPL. For shame, Novell. █
Before (SuSE 6.0)
After: O SuSE, where Art Thou?
