Sun to offer Red Hat Linux

Sun Microsystems is to offer Red Hat's Linux 6.1 through its online store for use on Sun UltraSPARC workstations and Sun Enterprise servers.

The company will also provide full support, through Red Hat, for any customers opting to run Linux instead of its own Solaris operating system on Sun hardware, in what it claims is a response to customer demand.

Sun is following other industry heavyweights such as Dell and IBM in reacting to the popularity of Linux.

Rob Hailstone, research director at Bloor, said: "Sun has to do this because Linux has reached a point where if it doesn't, it will start to lose customers and rule itself out of the marketplace. There are a growing number of people who would look at Linux first and then look at the platform."

He went on to say that Sun is likely to position the offering for entry-level customers, and migrate them to Solaris as their demands increase or if they become dissatisfied with Linux. "Purely in terms of hardware sales, Sun will benefit because it knows that already there are a lot of people buying non-Sun hardware so they can run Linux on it. This way it can also position Solaris as the proven fall-back if Linux fails," Hailstone added.

A spokeswoman for Red Hat said: "We are particularly pleased that this decision is being led by customer demand and we are consequently working with Sun and other vendors towards making Linux available on as wide a range of platforms as possible, in as many countries as possible," she said.

Red Hat's Linux 6.1 will initially only be available to US customers through SunStore (http://www.sun.com/store ). However, Red Hat anticipates a worldwide agreement will follow.