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Dow Jones, Reuters
Sun Adopts Intel Chips for Line
Of Servers Using Linux, Solaris
By DON CLARK
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Sun Microsystems Inc., taking another step away from its hardware heritage, is adopting Intel Corp. chips for a low-end line of server systems that will run the free Linux operating system or Sun's Solaris software.
The announcement, pegged to the LinuxWorld trade show in San Francisco that begins Monday, is the latest sign of standardizing forces causing manufacturers to reduce their reliance on proprietary technologies. Sun, which is bundling several programs along with new machines, is trying to outflank hardware-rival International Business Machines Corp. while helping to prevent Microsoft Corp. from establishing a dominant position in Internet software.
"IBM is the air war and Microsoft is the ground war," said Jonathan Schwartz, Sun's executive vice president of software.
Much of the action is being prompted by Linux, a variant of the Linux operating system that has become a rallying cry for many programmers and cost-conscious corporations. Linux, besides being available at little or no charge, can be freely modified by programmers and can run on very inexpensive server systems.
Sun, Palo Alto, California, was later than rivals such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard Co. in making a big marketing push around Linux. But it is trying to make up for lost time. Its chief executive officer, Scott McNealy, will deliver one of the first keynotes at the LinuxWorld show.
Microsoft for the first time will also have a booth at the trade show. The
rest at wsj |
