Free and Open Source Software

Benefits for Developers

Opportunity for greater mindshare, adoption, innovation, and ubiquity of the software that you know and love.

Develop and Deploy On Sun Software For No Cost

In a step towards open sourcing its entire software portfolio, Sun is making available its server side software for no cost to develop and deploy in customer self-supported environments. This includes Sun Java Enterprise System, N1 system management, Studio development tools, SunRay server software, and Sun Secure Global Desktop optimized for the Solaris OS and available on Windows, Red Hat Linux, and HP-UX.

Now you can develop and deploy the same business-critical software for no cost that is available for purchase. And, you are also able to freely use the complete set of Studio development tools that includes visual tools, native tools, and the open as well as a set of tools to manage development, testing and deployment. When you reach the point in the software adoption life cycle where it makes sense for you, you can choose to obtain a license with support and services.

Develop With a Community: Build On The Commons and Work With the Latest Advancements

Sun understands the value of community development and has always been a community participant for that very reason. Not only is Sun now the single largest contributor of open source technologies behind UC Berkeley, but we are a member of many leading communities as well, including the Apache Software Foundation and GNOME, and have worked with the community to build technologies like the Apache Tomcat Java Servlet and Java Server Pages implementation in an open, participatory environment.

We continue to participate in these communities to work with the best minds to solve common problems, and we see the value in contributing leading technologies that have been developed internal to Sun. In this way, Sun helps bring greater value to developers and works with the community at large to push technologies even further.

Take Sun's Java Desktop (JDS) As An Example

The basic elements of JDS—Mozilla browser, Evolution mail and calendar, StarOffice suite, GNU/Linux OS, GNOME desktop—come from open source communities. You could gather all those parts yourself; they are all available gratis. But then you'd have to integrate and support them.

Instead, Sun selects and integrates software components, packages and delivers a solution, offers support and updates, fixes security exposures, offers indemnity, and joins open source communities.

When you buy JDS, you get high function, ease of use, data format and networking compatibility, low migration cost, reuse of existing hardware, escape from Microsoft Windows viruses and security risks, and minimal retraining.

You're Getting More Than Just Bleeding Edge Technology From Sun

Sun is contributing its hottest technologies and joining in communities to collaborate with other smart folks. Together, these communities create and enhance a pool of software where products like JDS are derived. Learn more about the community resources that Sun enables.

For example:

These fully supported, commercial distributions of open source code combine the advantages of open source with the security and stability of commercial software.

• Sun Studio and NetBeans
• StarOffice (OpenOffice.org)
• Sun Java System Application Server Platform Edition (GlassFish)