Sun Offers Express Code Delivery for Solaris

Sun was also giving the technology to its market development team who works with the ISVs to highlight all the nuances of whats happening in the system, Lioacono said.

Some customers like Thomas Nau, the head of the Communication and Information Centers Infrastructure Department at the University of Ulm, Germany, likes the Software Express delivery mechanism as it gives him a chance to adopt features earlier.

"In the past, having the latest feature set has always been worth taking the marginal risk of upgrading. Without the early access, we would have to start testing about a year later and would thus only start upgrading about six months after the final release," Nau said.

However, one enterprise Solaris user in California, who requested anonymity, said greater stability, flexibility and security across the platform are far more important than a host of new features. "We have enough trouble dealing with and installing patches to the operating system as it is. We are not interested in implementing anything that makes life more complicated for us," he said.

Sun is offering Software Express for Solaris in two ways. First is via free download, for which customers sign an NDA (nondisclosure agreement) for use of the code. There is no support for this option, and the code can be used only for noncommercial purposes.

The second way is with a subscription costing $99 per year. This also requires customers to sign an NDA, but the code can be used commercially and includes access to the Solaris Express Community Web Site.

In addition, Loiacono told eWEEK that the Software Express delivery mechanism model would be expanded to other Sun products over time.

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