The company has released code under the CDDL for its Solaris DTrace technology and says that buildable source code for Solaris will be available in the second quarter of 2005.

If They Build It, Will They Come?

But will the Linux community bite? Does open source Solaris have the mind share potential to tempt enough Linux developers to start dabbling in its code and possibly realign in Sun's direction?

In theory, Sun's move toward open source is yet another boost for the open source community, giving it access to the patented utilities supporting one of Sun Microsystems' most popular products. But Sun may have a difficult time overcoming earlier perceptions the open source community may have formed about it: namely that at a time when the other vendors -- such as IBM and HP -- were moving to commodity systems, Sun still was pushing its high-end proprietary servers.

That is actually Sun Microsystems' big challenge right now, Yankee Group analyst Laura DiDio tells NewsFactor. "Sun will have to launch a tremendous marketing campaign to convince people they are a player in open source," she says. "They will have to find a way to reverse that trend and recast themselves in the image of an open source provider since that is not the first thing people think about when they think about Sun."

IDC analyst Dan Kusnetzky, for one, does not believe Sun will be able to stem the momentum established by Linux. "Some developers may be enticed to take a closer look at Solaris, but I doubt it will attract the mainstream Linux developers," he said.

Calling Planet Linux

But while it may have a marketing battle ahead of it, Sun does have a formidable array of resources to call upon. Even as enterprises move away from the proprietary products, the brand name of Sun still resonates. "Executives say they still value Sun as a company, even as they are hedging their bets with open source," DiDio says. "They don't want to get rid of Sun as a vendor completely."

Then there was the resolution of Sun's long-simmering rivalry with Microsoft last year. "A lot of people did not notice that after the agreement was announced, the two companies completed a cross-licensing agreement," DiDio says. "That gives Sun a huge leg up. It means that Sun, Solaris and its open source products can play with Microsoft."

The problem is -- again -- one of market awareness. "How many people remember this announcement now and understand the implications?" asks DiDio.

Sun Microsystems did not respond to requests for an interview in time for publication.