Sun Microsystems

Sun to detail security response guarantees

SAN FRANCISCO--Sun Microsystems will take new a step "in the next week or so" to try to press for more secure software, the company's No. 2 exec said Monday.

"It is increasingly imperative that all companies that deliver technology take active responsibility for how secure they are," said Sun President Jonathan Schwartz, speaking at the Veritas Vision conference here. "Any company simply delivering technology and wishing their customers well is going to be viewed as irresponsible."

It's not clear exactly what Schwartz has in mind, but it won't just be a … Read more

Schwartz: Participation Age, take three

Sun Microsystems President Jonathan Schwartz is working hard to firmly lodge his latest term, the Participation Age, in computer industry minds.

He introduced the idea at a speech at the Open Source Business Conference in April, scooping his own keynote address by posting the Participation Age ideas on his blog. Two more Schwartz blog entries since then also have been devoted to the idea.

In his most recent entry, Schwartz said coverage of his talk was "more inflammatory than the speech " itself. Perhaps: CNET News.com's piece about his speech focused on Schwartz's criticisms of the General Public License (GPL) … Read more

Get your free car for $220 a month

SAN FRANCISCO--Jonathan Schwartz, Sun Microsystems' outspoken president and chief operating officer, is a big fan of subscriptions. Sell a product as a subscription and you won't get as much money up front, but you'll get a series of payments stretching as far into the future as you can convince your customer it's worth paying.

Sun sells subscriptions for its Java Enterprise System server software and Solaris operating system, but a favored Schwartz illustration of the power of subscriptions is giving away cell phones then selling phone service.

Next up: cars. General Motors sells a subscription service called … Read more

Sun signs up for instant messaging standard

Sun Microsystems has updated its instant messaging server software with support for a nascent standard called Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol, or XMPP. The technology is designed to bridge the gap between today's separate IM networks.

The XMPP support is built into Sun's Java System Instant Messaging software, part of its Java Communications Suite, the software and server company said Wednesday.

Sun also announced partnerships with two companies to expand the software's abilities. Integration with Clique Communications' software permits the software to be used for sending video streams. And for companies that must comply with regulations governing … Read more

Sun moves closer to open-source server software

Sun Microsystems apparently has moved a step closer to making its Java Enterprise System server software an open-source project.

President Jonathan Schwartz floated the open-source JES idea in January as the company launched its OpenSolaris operating system project. But in an interview published Tuesday by InformationWeek, Schwartz came closer to committing to the plan.

Schwartz suggested the second quarter of 2005 as a possible time for the move and said it would put pressure on IBM's proprietary competing WebSphere, Tivoli and Lotus products.

There are already open-source alternatives, however, including Novell's new Hula project, JBoss and a suite … Read more

First OpenSolaris user conference April 26

A Sun Microsystems programmer has begun organizing the first conference devoted to building a community of open-source programmers involved in developing its OpenSolaris operating system.

The conference will be April 26 at Sun's Santa Clara campus, said OpenSolaris programmer Alan DuBoff on his blog.

"I have taken on the task of forming the first user group in Silicon Valley and will leverage the help of the community, as well as the resources from Solaris engineering, to provide speakers and swag for those who attend," DuBoff said.

Sun's Schwartz taking blog into audio realm

Jonathan Schwartz, the Sun Microsystems president who championed the idea of executive blogs, is trying to stay a step ahead of his competition by adopting a relative novelty called podcasting.

Podcasting broadcasts audio files with widely used blog dissemination technology called Really Simple Syndication (RSS). This method for automatically sending audio content to a subscriber's computer or digital music player is one of several fashionable new trends in the blogging world.

In his March 15 blog, Schwartz said he plans to podcast a Churchill Club panel discussion in which he argues it's possible to make money off a free product. … Read more