Sun Recruits Linux Partners For LX50

The vendor will be rolling out a new iForce partner program for Linux solution providers in the next two weeks, said Cheryl Kelly, director of global iForce marketing at Sun. She did not disclose details of the program.

Sun is recruiting partners only in the "volume market," where it is aiming its LX50 Linux-based servers, Kelly said. Sun is looking for qualified partners with Linux expertise and volume, and solution providers in the Windows NT market that want to get into Linux or Solaris OS, she said. The vendor hopes to sign several hundred partners. Sun currently has about 5,000 solution provider partners and also works with about 20,000 vendors worldwide, Kelly added.

John Howard, principal and vice president of sales for Sharon, Mass.-based solution provider Boston Computers and Peripherals, said there is a lot of interest in the LX50 server because Sun brings some of the features of its successful commercial Unix OS, Solaris, to Linux. "Linux is really becoming more mainstream than people want to believe," Howard said. "I wouldn't be saying this if I hadn't sold dozens and dozens of servers."

In another sign of the intensification of the Linux market, Red Hat will ship Red Hat Linux 8.0 later this month. Developed under the code-name Limbo, the package will offer a spruced-up graphical user interface based on GNOME 2.0 with themes, improved buttons, scroll bars and menus, and updated applications including enhanced versions of the Mozilla 1.0.1 browser, Nautilus file manager, Open Office office suite and a new Evolution e-mail client.

Paula Rooney contributed to this report.