Sun Microsystems looking at open source community to revive itself

Sun Microsystems looking at open source community to revive itself

Sun Microsystems has revealed that they plan to give some of its key software to customers for free. The aim is to get more people to use their applications and bring in revenues through support and other value added services. Sun is also aiming for support from the open source businesses and developers. The company plans to no longer charge for their Java Enterprise System, along with some other programs.

This is quite a complicated gamble from the company, which has struggled to financially survive in the recent times. Sun executives claimed that they hope to earn from support and services for the various programs. Jonathan Schwartz, Sun’s president claimed that their plans would help Sun target as many new customers as possible.

He added that most companies prefer to pay for support and services instead of paying a lump sum in the beginning for software products. Schwartz said: “We’re going to be driving for volume first and foremost, then figuring the right service to monetize that volume.” The move comes just months after the company decided to give away their Solaris 10 operating system for free.

Sun claims that their decision has shown impressive results with 3.4 million registered licenses issued since February.