from NY Times: Sun Microsystems said Tuesday that its Solaris 10 operating system would soon be available on an open-source basis, a move the company hopes will help counter the perception that its technology is too proprietary and pricier than the competition.
The decision means the software will be free and that programmers outside Sun will be able to customize and improve it.
The company, based in Santa Clara, Calif., has lost considerable business in the market for computer servers to companies like Dell Computer and Hewlett-Packard, whose low-cost systems run Linux, a free open-source operating system.
