Sun to Show Plans for Low-Cost Linux PC

Reuters ^ | September 18, 2002 12:05 AM ET

[Knitebane]

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc. SUNW.O will announce on Wednesday plans for inexpensive desktop computers based on the free Linux operating system in a bid to undermine archrival Microsoft Corp.MSFT.O .

Marking a second plunge into world of Linux, a free, collaboratively developed operating system, the Sun machines will be based on cheap commodity parts and ship in a few quarters, Vice President John Loiacono said in an interview.

Sun's announcement came at the start of a user conference, SunNetwork, beginning Wednesday in San Francisco.

Sun is known for its million-dollar machines that manage networks and a fast, Internet-fueled rise to prominence that the dot-com bust spoiled, sending Sun's stock down more than 90 percent from its 2000 high.

It has guaranteed a market for its big computers by establishing its operating system, Solaris, as a favorite among developers, and it expects to sell even more expensive machines and sophisticated software as parts of system packages including commodity Linux-based desktops.

Some analysts believe Sun could be the victim of its own success as its Linux machines steal market from its high-end systems, but Sun argues Linux is a low-end complement to Solaris and keeps customers out of the Microsoft camp.

"The primary motivator for enterprise customers (to buy Sun Linux desktops) will be reduction in costs and freedom from Microsoft," Sun said in a statement on the user conference.

"Hardware costs over the last 10 years have gone through the floor but software costs have gone up," Loiacono added. Microsoft's lucrative position as the vendor of Windows, which runs nearly every PC, has also given it clout in designing networks that Sun sees as a long term threat.

Sun will begin by marketing the Linux desktop machine as a relatively stripped-down machine, rather than a multimedia marvel, to markets such as corporate call centers, government and schools, Loiacono said.

Sun recently launched a low-end Linux server computer but has been seen as a reluctant convert to the collaboratively developed free operating system.

Linux is positioned as an alternative to both Microsoft's Windows and typical corporate Unix-based operating systems, like Sun's Solaris, sparking strong debate over which market Linux will hurt most.

Sun's broader strategy, dubbed N1 and also a topic of the user conference, is to link together computer networks with sophisticated software based on its Java platform, that is generally considered an alternative to Microsoft's networking strategy called .Net, pronounced "dot-net."

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[Knitebane]

I'm not a big Sun Microsystems fan, but choice is always good. If nothing else, those businesses with a lot of Sun boxes in their server farm will like this option.

Now if IBM starts shipping PowerPC systems with Linux and HP/Compaq restart the Alpha line running Linux, we might have an interesting market battle. Too bad that's not likely to happen.

[Knitebane]

Another Linux story for your distribution channel. :)

[martin_fierro]

After all the crashes I've had in Win 98/SE this week, I'm looking forward to trying another, more affordable, more stable OS.

[Nick Danger]

If nothing else, those businesses with a lot of Sun boxes in their server farm will like this option.

You can pretty much bet it will be nothing else. These sound like low-cost boxes for vertical-market production apps, where the machine runs the same call center or shipping dock application 24-by-7.

At least, that's how the sales force slipped it by McNealy. "We're leaving money on the table. They would buy these things from us, if we had them."

This isn't Sun's game, though, and they're going to be sorry they did this. The manufacturing culture of a high-end, architecture-rich hardware vendor is not the place to try to build high-volume low-cost boxen out of commodity parts. It sounds like one could do the other easily enough, but there's more to it than meets the eye. It is really is a cultural difference; you almost can't have the two things in the same company. You watch: the merger of Compaq and HP will ruin them both.

The right answer for the problem Sun has is a deal with Apple. Maybe it's too soon for that, or maybe the announcement of these machines is a stick they are waving at Jobs because he's playing too hard to get.

[paul544]

Didn't mention the distro. Wonder if they have their own flavor in the works.

[rdb3]

The Penguin Ping.

Wanna be Penguified? Just holla!

Got root?

[Poohbah]

This sounds like Oracle's NC-1 effort. I understand that they make GREAT doorstops...

[zx2dragon]

I hate to tell Sun, but they have been beaten to the punch by Wal-Mart. Lindows or Mandrake available on decent systems starting at $389. They used to sell equip with no OS and just recently started using Linux.

[Nick Danger]

This sounds like Oracle's NC-1 effort. I understand that they make GREAT doorstops...

I don't know to what extent things like that might be succeeding where they make sense. One problem we have with 'computer journalism' outside the trade rags (and sometimes even in them) is that the reporters view everything through the lens of the consumer PC market. If they don't see the thing on the shelves at Wal*Mart, they think it's a flop.

Lots of technologies are used in data center computing that never make their way into the popular press. I suspect these "network computers" are among them. They make sense for some apps. They never will for the consumer desktop. My hunch is that they are winning where they are customized to the app... similar in concept to those POS terminals at McDonald's, where instead of a QWERTY keyboard they have buttons labeled "Cheesburger" and "Big Mac." You don't want an "Office Engine" in an environment like that. You want the simplest, cheapest thing you can find, that not even a Floriduh voter could screw up. No moving parts? So much the better.

[HamiltonJay]

If these lowend servers with linux will support suns new "virtual server" they are hyping, I'll probably be buying a few of em.

[Knitebane]

I hate to tell Sun, but they have been beaten to the punch by Wal-Mart. Lindows or Mandrake available on decent systems starting at $389. They used to sell equip with no OS and just recently started using Linux.

While I applaud WalMart for taking on the Microsoft juggernaut, they aren't a major PC distributor.

Sun is. While I would prefer that Sun do this on both Sparc and an Intel platform, it's still a departure for them.

In reality, this probably won't be a very big deal for most PC users. This is targeted towards major Sun server purchasers, allowing businesses to consolidate their server and workstation support costs.

But hey, Linux users will likely get some better code for the Sparc-specific parts of the Linux kernel, so those of us that like to buy Sparc hardware and install Linux on it will get something out of it too.

[Jack Black]

"Now if IBM starts shipping PowerPC systems with Linux and HP/Compaq restart the Alpha line running Linux, we might have an interesting market battle. Too bad that's not likely to happen."

It is happening! IBM has announced native Linux support will be provided on the entire line of RS/6000 RISC servers. Previously Linux had only been available as a "client OS" running under the AIX OS. Now there will be no need for AIX at all on these boxes.

As for Alpha, I suspect it is well and truely dead. For one thing HP has to stop supporting so many CPUs, they have Alpha (sole user), PA RISC (sole user), MIPS in Tandems (used by SGI and Nintendo??) and Intel. They have a stated goal to go all Intel, and given the IP they put into the Intel Itanium (and its PA RISC compatibility) I doubt they will back down on this.

[Poohbah]

You want the simplest, cheapest thing you can find, that not even a Floriduh voter could screw up.

"To dream the impossible dream..."

[Bush2000]

While I applaud WalMart for taking on the Microsoft juggernaut, they aren't a major PC distributor. Sun is. While I would prefer that Sun do this on both Sparc and an Intel platform, it's still a departure for them.

This is hilarious. Sun is trying to carve a desktop Linux market where none exists -- or will for any forseeable future. I look forward to McNealy's future admission that this was an ill-advised boondoggle.

[Bush2000]

BTW, do you recall what happened to SGI when they tried to start building low-cost workstations from commodity parts -- when, in fact, their real strength was powerful, proprietary workstations? It damn near destroyed them.

[j_tull]

... not the place try to build high-volume low-cost boxen out of commodity parts

Sun started doing this with the PCI based Ultra5/10.

[Knitebane]

This is hilarious. Sun is trying to carve a desktop Linux market where none exists -- or will for any forseeable future. I look forward to McNealy's future admission that this was an ill-advised boondoggle.

The demise of Windows is inevitable because of their descent into licensing hell. Sun may or may not have the timing right for this foray, that remains to be seen.

The great thing for consumers is that even if Sun manages to ride the Linux desktop wave ahead of everyone else, the availability of Linux for other platforms keeps them from locking out other operating systems and using the same strongarm tactics as Microsoft. Users will always have a choice, unlike the Windows world today.

[B Knotts]

If Sun just tries to sell white boxes with Lindows, this will be a failure. But if they offer something like an Linux iMac, but cheaper, it could be successful. They really need to focus on the look and feel of the desktop. Preconfigured to have anti-aliasing on out of the box, and with decent fonts installed, KDE 3.1 is competitive with anything else out there. A little tweaking here and there is all that's needed to keep newbies from being confused.

[Bush2000]

The demise of Windows is inevitable because of their descent into licensing hell...

LMFAO. I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you. You simply don't know what you're fighting against. MS has nearly $50B in the bank. That's more than the top 10 fortune 100 companies combined. Do you understand what that kind of cash can do?!?