Sybase says Linux now a priority

Sybase plans to ship a fully supported, feature-complete version of its flagship database for the Linux operating system.

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Stephen Shankland

Jan. 2, 2002 4:43 p.m. PT

2 min read

Support for Linux just keeps on growing.

Sybase today said it plans to ship a fully supported, feature-complete version of its flagship database, Adaptive Server Enterprise, for the Linux operating system. The move follows the recent wave of Linux support from a large group of major vendors.

In addition, Sybase likely will port its Enterprise Connect software available under Linux later this year, though the possibility still is under evaluation, said Jim Griffin, senior marketing manager at Sybase.

Sybase will continue its current practice of distributing the software with Red Hat and Caldera Systems distributions of Linux.

Sybase said the database will now include the same features and technical support as Sybase's core Unix and Windows NT database releases.

Linux is a Unix-like operating system developed by Linus Torvalds and supported by countless other programmers across the Internet. It's growing both in popularity and reputation, and most of the computing industry has moved to embrace it in one way or another in recent months.

Sybase is no newcomer to the Linux market. The Emeryville, California-based company has offered a free, unsupported version of Adaptive Server Enterprise for Linux since last August.

However, the version Sybase previously had available was an earlier edition of Enterprise Server, version 11.0.3. The new Linux software will be up to parity with the most recent version, 11.9.2.

Griffin said 40,000 copies of the earlier version have been downloaded from the Web sites of Red Hat and Caldera.

Sybase and competitor Oracle have adopted the same strategy to encourage adoption of their database products: Both companies will give their software away for free to developers, charging only for actual deployment.

The policy could lead to some piracy, Griffin said, but he expects no piracy among the large corporations.

After months of strong customer enthusiasm for Adaptive Server Enterprise for Linux, Sybase is extending its commitment to Linux by supporting it as a core platform.

In addition, Sybase also announced its plans to offer a fully-supported Linux version of its mobile and embedded database product, SQL Anywhere Studio, targeting such applications as monitoring systems and point-of-sale devices.

Sybase said it plans to begin shipping versions of the Adaptive Server Enterprise for the Linux platform in the second quarter of this year. Pricing will be the same as for the software running on other operating systems, Griffin said.