Open source cuts across Sun’s growth strategy

The open source route has generated more money for Sun Microsystems than before, says its open source chief, and staying on this path will be central to the company’s growth strategy.

Sun made more money from Solaris today than it did four years ago after it moved the server platform to an open source model, said Simon Phipps, the company’s chief open source officer.

“OpenSolaris has been very profitable for us,” Phipps said, during a meeting with reporters at the Sun CommunityOne developer conference here Wednesday. The profits have come primarily from offering the platform on a subscription model, he said, which provides its customers a range of services including technical support, default resolution, code maintenance, warranty and legal indemnity.

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