Solaris to go open source

Sun Microsystems has confirmed plans to make its Solaris operating system open source.

The company's president and chief operating officer, Jonathan Schwartz, revealed the intention at the firm's SunNetwork event in Shanghai. But no details or timetable have been made available.

In a statement Sun said: "Sun is committed to working with customers, partners and developers in the areas of open source and standards-based technology.

"At SunNetwork Shanghai, Jonathan Schwartz and John Loiacono discussed Sun's intentions to open source its enterprise-class Solaris Operating System.

"At this time, Sun is in the development phase of this project and is not discussing new information about potential timing, licensing models or other details."

Sun is already a major player in the open source software movement and has shared some Solaris source code with academic institutions. But this announcement would signal a major shift in strategy were it to come to fruition.

Steve Brazier, analyst at Canalys, commented: "Sun has been guilty in the past of locking customers in too tight.

"It has recognised that its previous strategy is no longer tenable. Therefore what Sun is pursuing is a relationship-building strategy and removing the barriers to working with it."