Re: End of "Free" Solaris binary licence program - now it's free.

• Previous message: Scott Howard: "Re: End of "Free" Solaris binary licence program - now it's free."
• In reply to: Scott Howard: "Re: End of "Free" Solaris binary licence program - now it's free."
• Next in thread: Chris Newport: "Re: End of "Free" Solaris binary licence program - now it's free."
• Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]

Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2005 04:04:50 +0000

Scott Howard wrote:
> Dave <nospam@nowhere.com> wrote:
>
>>Sorry if this is old news (I've not checked the newsgroups recently) but
>>can't see it in Google Groups.
>
>
> It is old news in that it was announced months ago,

Sorry, I only found it today and found it interesting. I was quite
critical of the so called "Free Solaris Binary Licensing Program" so see
this as really good news.

> Correct. Completely free, for any number of CPUs, for any use (including
> commercial).

Good. I suspect this is partially at least due to the bad publicity the
old Solaris 9 license caused.

> The regular updates to the OS (ie, the roughly quarterly releases) will
> also be free, as will security patches. Non-security patches (if you want
> them more frequently than the quarterly updates) will only be available
> with a support contract, as will telephone support.

That's only fair. Nobody can moan about that. I'm mainly a home user
(the Suns at work are too slow!!), so I don't have a support contract.
So I don't expect the same level of support as someone who pays for it.

> Sun is driving hard to get people onto Solaris 10. Giving out the same
> licenses for S9 would erode adaption, even if only a little.

I think this would cause a lot of goodwill, and very little erosion of
Solaris 10 use. In fact, you could reduce that erosion to zero (see below).

> Realistically, no sun4m machines have been shipped for over 6.5 years (SS5)
> with most of the common models (such as the SS20) not having shipped for
> almost 8 years - it's not like we're dropping support for anything
> recent :)

They may not have been supplied by Sun recently, but they have been
acquired by hobbyists in last few weeks. Those people are basically
stuffed.

Yet people buying such hardware at home will be more likely to want to
buy it processionally later in life. They can learn on a cheap machine,
and then spend $$$'s on new ones.

One way around *all* of these problems, which would not take much effort
on Sun's part, would be to offer Solaris 9 under the virtually the same
license as Solaris 10, but on the one condition it is not used on any
machine capable of running 10.

* Creates good will.
* No erosion of Solaris 10 use.
* Hobbyists can get an OS.
* People can learn and perhaps buy kit later in life.
* Anyone wanting to write multi-processor code on a tight budget can do
  so on an SS20. If they have the $$'s for a used Ultra 60 or 80, then
they *must* use Solaris 10 (to be legal anyway).

It would not take a bunch of lawyers to write a new license. Just take
the Solaris 10 one, replace "10" with "9" and add a couple of simple
sentences about not using it on machines capable of running Solaris 10.

Dr. David Kirkby

• Previous message: Scott Howard: "Re: End of "Free" Solaris binary licence program - now it's free."
• In reply to: Scott Howard: "Re: End of "Free" Solaris binary licence program - now it's free."
• Next in thread: Chris Newport: "Re: End of "Free" Solaris binary licence program - now it's free."
• Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]