Sun Unveils Solaris 8 Operating Environment Source Code

Developers, Programmers, Students and Enthusiasts Gain Access to OE

PALO ALTO, Calif., Dec. 6, 2000 /PRNewswire/ -- Sun Microsystems today announced it is providing free of charge, access to the Solaris(TM) 8 Operating Environment (OE) source code.  Designed to improve the standards and quality of application development, this program will enable developers, students and enthusiasts to better understand how the premier dot-com operating environment Solaris works.

"With the introduction of Solaris 8 OE, we noticed an increase of requests to view the source," said Andy Ingram, vice president of Solaris Operating Environment at Sun Microsystems.  "Allowing access to the source will ensure those interested in the operating environment, an easy method to understanding it and thus being able to deliver compatibility."

The Solaris 8 Source Foundation edition contains the kernel and networking source and components from the administration software and everything needed to rebuild the Solaris platform.

Complementing the release of the Foundation edition, Sun is providing a special portal that enables developers to participate in a community of online support to foster innovation and availability.  This will create an arena for a secure exchange of information and knowledge about the internals of Solaris OE, including how it affects applications and users.  Sun will have greater ability to communicate with the programming world and providing the innovative environment, using those ideas to enhance and improve the Solaris Operating Environment.  The website can be found at http://www.sun.com/solaris/source.

The Solaris 8 Source Foundation edition is immediately available free of charge when downloaded from the Website.  The media kit is also available for $75 and can be ordered from the Website.  Customers must accept in writing the license terms for the product.  The full details of those terms are available at the time of purchase or download.

Sun offers free licenses for the latest versions of Solaris 8 for the SPARC and Intel architectures through the Free Solaris Binary program.

The program is available for use on an unlimited number of systems with eight or fewer processors for the cost of media ($75) and shipping.  The Free Solaris Binary License Program website can be located http://www.sun.com/solaris/binaries .

Sun operates a special portal for systems administrators of Solaris, called BigAdmin.  It contains regularly updated resources, such as the best practices, community submitted questions and answers, free software, patches and much more.  The website can be found at:  http://www.sun.com/sysadmin/ .

About Solaris Operating Environment

The Solaris 8 platform is the industry's premier dot-com operating environment, supporting over 12,000 applications. Available for both SPARC(TM) and Intel IA-32 platforms, the Solaris 8 Operating Environment combines new levels of availability and reliability -- to help enable continuous, 24x7 uptime -- with massive scalability, sophisticated manageability and advanced security.  Support for UltraSPARC(TM) III processors is available immediately.  The Solaris 8 Operating Environment enables enterprises adapting to the Internet age, and dot-com businesses adopting the disciplines of the data center, to increase service levels while at the same time reducing service costs and risks.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.  Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer(TM)" -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc., to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that power the Internet and allow companies worldwide to dot-com their businesses.  With $17.6 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 170 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com .

NOTE:  Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Solaris and The Network Is the Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and in other countries.

All SPARC trademarks are used under licenses and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and other countries.  Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc.