Sun's 'Big Bear' Linux server to appear in August (InfoWorld) [LWN.net]

InfoWorld has details on the announcement to be made by Sun CEO McNealy. "Sun Microsystems will announce its controversial Linux server, code-named Big Bear, this August at the LinuxWorld conference, showing a dual-processor system that runs on chips from rival Intel, according to sources familiar with the company's plans."

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Linux on SPARC?

Posted Jun 19, 2002 15:41 UTC (Wed) by GreyWizard (guest, #1026) [Link]

Can someone please tell me why Sun Microsystems, the company that manufactures and sells SPARC processors, is creating a Linux distribution for Intel chips? This sort of move might make sense if they were using an established distribution, which might not have a reliable SPARC port available. But if Sun creates (or even derives) the distribution, they can use any platform they want. Why not choose SPARC? Not only would such a move build momentum for Linux on SPARC by giving other distributors an incentive to create and maintain ports, it would also allow Sun to have higher margins on these low end servers.

The only plausible explanation is that they're secretly afraid that Linux on SPARC threatens Solaris, their proprietary Unix. Obviously if Solaris were better than Linux for customers then Sun could count on the market to figure this out. But if not then protecting it is a losing game in the long run.

Instead of confusing these issues, they ought to position themselves to win regardless of the outcome. Offering a choice of Linux or Solaris on SPARC would be an excellent way to do that, allowing the company to focus resources on making other offerings (including SPARC chips, software and services) more competative if Solaris loses market share. Making this decision requires vision. Unfortunately, it seems that Sun generates more heat than light these days.