1) Sorry for the multiple posts, I recevied a server error each time. 2) Posting here a private reply, please reply to the forum not by eMail: >Sun has never supported any piece of hardware forever - all of >them eventually have support dropped. sun4c support was dropped f>rom Solaris 8, sun4d from Solaris 9, sun4m & Ultra 1 from Solaris 10, >it's just time for the next round in the next Solaris release.
>> This might sound like a provocatory post, but I think that it is necessary to >> give Sun a wake-up call on this matter. >Then you're sending it to the wrong place - a few engineers read >opensolaris-help, but I doubt any of the VP's who decide what to >fund will ever know you posted, and it's going to be a lot harder >sell now. In case you haven't read the press, Sun is losing money, >and isn't going to solve that by spending more on supporting hardware >that hasn't been sold in year and isn't likely to bring in enough >paid support contracts to cover the expense of providing that support What Sun's VPs fail to understand and acknowledge is that most opensource contributors are enthusiastic and with no access to sufficient funds to purchase NEW and SUPPORTED Sun hardware to dedicate to their hobby. They require access to inexpensive hardware, and like it or not this is normally sourced second-hand on eBay. Sun have pursued the right avenue to open their software, but they will be able to expand contribution exponentially only by continuing to support their older and inexpensive hardware. At least they should be doing the right thing to "open" the source code of every hardware component Sun no longer plan to support commercially, to encourage their continued use and support in the "open" market. -- This message posted from opensolaris.org
