Sun and IBM announced partnerships around Solaris and Java on Monday, a sign that Sun is taking a less adversarial approach to relations with its computing industry rivals.
IBM has become a major ally in Sun's effort to expand its Solaris operating system to x86 chips by pledging to create versions of Java, database and other server software for the chip-OS combination. And IBM — one of the earliest Java partners — has extended its licensing agreement with Sun through 2016.
The companies announced the alliances at Sun's JavaOne conference in San Francisco.
"We have been working to reach out to those for whom our relationships have been strained," Sun's president Jonathan Schwartz said in a keynote address. "We've got to send a clear message to the marketplace that says the Java community is vibrant, it's open, it's participative."
IBM will bring versions of its WebSphere Java software, DB2 database, Rational developer tools and Tivoli management tools to Solaris for x86. IBM already supports Solaris on computers with Sun's Sparc processors, but decided to create the x86 version based on customer demand, Steve Mills, a senior vice-president in IBM's software group, said in a statement. IBM will support Sun's latest version 10 of Solaris for x86 and Sparc.
The Java partnership could extend even farther, Mills said in a videotaped statement. "I look forward to decades to come of Java continuing to be a key part of the technology infrastructure that powers the world's businesses."
The company that's hurt most by IBM's Java support is Microsoft, said RedMonk analyst James Governor. "Anything that divides the Java community is good for Microsoft. Java has been a thorn in their side for 10 years. Having IBM and Sun recommit is a thorn for another 10 years," he said.
The moves signal a measure of detente between Sun and IBM. The companies are fierce rivals when it comes to servers, so it's not surprising IBM wasn't the first to sign up to support Sun's effort to spread its operating system more broadly from its own Sparc processors to x86 chips. But the companies buried at least one hatchet.
In 2004, Sun signed a partnership with an even more bitter rival, Microsoft. And on Friday, Sun inked a joint development deal with storage system rival EMC.
"We don't have any other enemies to do a deal with," quipped chief executive Scott McNealy in a meeting with reporters, though Schwartz quickly added, "I'm sure we'll find some."
The announcement came the same day that Sun released some of its Java server software as an open source product. That's a request IBM has been making for years.
Schwartz said that releasing Sun's Java server software as open source software is only a first step.
"This is one step forward as we continue to open source all of Sun's software assets," Schwartz said. "It's good for business. It's also good for the world."
Many parts of Java, however, including the forthcoming "Mustang" version for desktop computers, remain covered by restrictive licences.
Sun is working hard to bring Solaris — released as open source project earlier in June — to x86 chips. The company sells servers with two or four Opteron processors from AMD today and plans to release a new higher-end "Galaxy" line of systems later this year.
Sun has said HP and IBM made strategic mistakes by not bringing their versions of Unix — HP-UX and AIX, respectively — to x86-based computers.
Most of Sun's AMD servers today use Linux. Scott McNealy said last week he expects Solaris, Microsoft Windows, and perhaps Red Hat Enterprise Linux to be the only major survivors in the server operating system market.
