From Gerald to Larry: One Down, Solaris to Go

So I hear you are killing OpenSolaris. Admittedly it never was all that successful as an Open Source project, unlike the Linux Kernel, Apache, Firefox, GCC, Samba, and hundreds/thousands of others that make up openSUSE and SUSE Linux Enterprise.

While I guess I can see your logic, I sympathize with those volunteers who had engaged. Luckily, there are communities around other operating systems which are a lot more open than OpenSolaris ever was, and I hope they will find a new home.

Let’s be clear on one thing, though. This is not the end of our quest; Solaris shall be next. We are taking share, and have for years. We run on a wider range of hardware than Solaris ever has or ever will. (Remind me, what happened to Solaris on System z? Just in case you wonder, 80% of System z workloads not running directly on IBM’s own operating systems use SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.) Our portfolio of ISVs and applications is ever growing. We are cloud ready and readily found in various clouds, slim as in JeOS (Just Enough OS) and easy to build. No vendor lock in. Ah, and more brains and eyeballs than even you can afford. That’s the power of Open Source, the power of Linux, the power of collaboration. And that’s why I would not bet on the future of proprietary UNIX systems. Of which SUSE Linux Enterprise Server alone has already superseded several.

Who is we, you may ask? It’s those of us behind openSUSE, SUSE Linux Enterprise, our peers behind other distributions and thousands of upstream projects we participate in, contribute to, and leverage.

Me, I am the Director of Product Management for the SUSE Linux Enterprise family, Novell’s Appliances products (around SUSE Studio), and openSUSE. As time allows I am still contributing to various Open Source projects, and all opinions above are my own even if shared by many.

d’Ehre, and watch out, Larry!