Sun Runs Linux on Solaris

By JEFFREY SCHWARTZ

San Jose, Calif. -- Besides Microsoft, Sun Microsystems has the most to lose if Linux becomes a widely used operating system, according to analysts.

No so, says Sun.

In fact, Sun is demonstrating software at the LinuxWorld Expo here that runs on its Solaris 7 operating system that supports Linux applications.

The software, LX Run, is only a demonstration but Sun officials said the company is committed to offering it as a means of providing platform-level support for Linux.

"This is just a demo right now but it's pretty clear that future versions of Solaris will have lines of compatibility with Linux," said Brian Croll, director of marketing for Solaris products. He said Sun has not decided whether to offer it as a separate stack or whether to port it to earlier versions of Solaris.

"Our intentions are basic, we'd like to see protocols and open APIs; Linux is great from that standpoint," he added. Analysts said because Solaris is Sun's only operating system, the success of Linux could come at the expense of Solaris and Windows.

However, unlike Microsoft, Sun sells high-cost hardware. By optimizing Solaris to run Linux, Sun believes it can offer a scalable Linux compatibility layer to run on top of Solaris.

Croll did not say if Sun would offer Sparcstations running Linux without running Solaris.

Still, like many others, Sun has not seen large IT deployments of Linux. "It's still on the fringes of the enterprise, but we can't ignore it," he said.