How times have changed for the folks at Sun. According to this Reuters article (via Yahoo), Sun Microsystems is going to roll out a line of servers with the Linux OS. This move is a continuation of events that started with their acquistion of Cobalt. Cobalt, if you recall, produced Linux appliances that were shipped in closed boxes. They run without monitors and keyboards — instead they boot up and are configured through a web-based interface (and a small LCD on the back of the unit). Seems that Sun is going to expand this line of units and treat them more seriously. These boxes are excellent small office/home office units — easy to configure, use and manage.

As IBM continues to shift its operating system strategy towards Linux, it appears that Sun is going to have to follow suit. It won’t surprise me if Solaris is phased out in the next five years. Sun will probably have to do what IBM has been doing — moving Linux onto its hardware architecture to achieve performance and scaleability. The current Sun/Cobalt Linux boxes are essentially Intel architecture units, but that won’t do for Sun in the long run. You’ll likely see Sun architecture boxes running Linux in the near future, which is where they will attempt to distinguish themselves in the market.