Tom Goguen, vice president for platform software at Sun confirmed ""We're the second-largest contributor of open-source software to the community [behind the University of California], and [today], we'll step up and be the largest contributor of open-source software."

Today, Sun Microsystems Inc. released a slate of technologies as part of OpenSolaris, the open-source version of its Solaris 10 operating system. Available here.Technologies, including the kernel and networking software, are available for free usage under Sun's Community Development and Distribution License, said Tom Goguen, vice president for platform software at Sun.

The kernel includes features such as predictive self-healing and Solaris containers for isolating an application within the operating system. Also part of the release are system libraries and commands.

Users can download source code, combine it with their own source code and make commercial products out of it. "It's a completely royalty-free, open-source product," Goguen said. "Our goal is to increase and really drive up the ecosystem around Solaris. It's going to be a full, buildable environment. That's perhaps the key thing."

OpenSolaris will run on Intel Corp. x86 and 64-bit Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Opteron systems as well as on Sun's Sparc hardware. Sun plans to leverage the operating system by offering support packages, and it hopes that seeding the market with OpenSolaris will boost demand for its portfolio of other products, Goguen said.

Source: ComputerWorldPrashanth RaiTag(s): Sun, Open Source, OpenSolaris