Sun hands Cobalt an open-source lifeline (ZDNet)

[Posted January 2, 2004 by corbet]

ZDNet reports that Sun, as it shuts down the Cobalt server line, is doing the right thing with the code. "The release means that all the custom user interface and back-end code for the Qube 3 and RaQ 550 server appliances is now available under a BSD-style licence. Also, the custom BIOS for all x86-based RaQ/Qube products -- which, among other things, let an administrator tap in the device's network settings without having to plug in a keyboard and monitor -- have been released under the GNU Public License." (Thanks to Alastair Stevens)

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Posted Jan 2, 2004 17:25 UTC (Fri) by marduk (subscriber, #3831) [Link]

That's great! And definately "the right thing" to do. A pleasant surprise coming from Sun.

GPL?

Posted Jan 2, 2004 19:55 UTC (Fri) by pjdc (subscriber, #6906) [Link]

I presume they mean the GNU General Public License.

Yes, they mean GPL

Posted Jan 2, 2004 21:59 UTC (Fri) by proski (subscriber, #104) [Link]

See http://sourceforge.net/projects/cobalt-rom

GPL was misnamed by ZDNet, LWN just quoted it.

Distribution for MIPS Qubes

Posted Jan 5, 2004 13:19 UTC (Mon) by cdamian (subscriber, #1271) [Link]

I really would like a maintained distribution for my Cobalt Qube 2700. But I can't find any website of a successful install. Its a shame really, because the machine is just sitting here and doing nothing.

Distribution for MIPS Qubes

Posted Jan 8, 2004 16:13 UTC (Thu) by mceesay (guest, #2806) [Link]

Try NetBSD. The NetBSD/cobalt port is actively maintained and continues to be supported by the current NetBSD 1.6.1 release.