RED Hat is gunning for Sun Microsystems’ Solaris business with the release of Enterprise Linux v4.
The company says its latest offering effectively eliminates the need for Solaris.
In addition, the vendor has extended the functionality of its Red Hat Network to manage software distribution and configuration for systems running Solaris, thereby easing the transition for users turning to Red Hat.
According to Red Hat, Enterprise Linux v4 features an increased focus on platform stability, desktop productivity and technologies meeting enterprise security demands.
Red Hat senior vice-president Gus Robertson says Linux has been taking market share away from Unix for some time.
“This product is aimed at the high-end security area at a price that’s affordable to everyone. That will hit Sun where it hurts the most,” he says.
Customers deploying Solaris and Red Hat Enterprise Linux will be able to leverage the benefits of a single, unified systems management with Red Hat Network.
IDC New Zealand country manager Graeme Muller says the release from Red Hat will further drive the awareness of open source in the enterprise.
“This competition should benefit the end-user, so long as enough value is retained in the commercialisation of open source systems to drive ongoing research and development,” he says.
Muller adds that IDC expects Sun to continue to respond to the challenge.
Sun New Zealand country manager Peter Idoine says Sun is functionally richer and more stable, pointing out that Solaris 10 will run all Linux applications. “It’s been out longer, is substantially cheaper and — most importantly — has support,” he says.
