Sun lets JDS on Linux roam free

SUN MICROSYSTEMS has assured the future of its desktop Linux offering (Java Desktop System, or JDS) by doing something some of us only hoped.

It is opening the "Java Desktop System" to other linux distros, -as a software layer. The company's software VP, John Loiacono told eWeek the company wants Java Desktop System to run "on multiple Linux distributions".

This move has the potential of putting Java Desktop System as the preferred work environment for more Linux users than it was previously possible with the "custom distro" approach.

Sun's Java Desktop System - Release 2

According to Sun's Tom Goguen, a new programme dubbed "JDS Partners Program" will let Linux software and hardware developers offer Sun's desktop bundle. Sun has taken the major bits of JDS including the Java Virtual Machine, Star Office, Java, specs and branding and combined these elements in the programme, he told eWeek.

The history of JDS Linux, in brief
I started running Sun's Java Desktop System back at release one - actually called R2003- in late December '03, for which I paid around $50 on Sun's web site. Unlike other distros, JDS was never available on retail - or virtual Amazon.com - shelves, you have to order it direct from Sun's web site.

Sun's own distro generated mixed reactions from the Linux community. Some loved it, others hated it only because it's a product of Sun. Then came Release 2, which added better management tools, but whose foundation was basically the same: a 2.4 kernel and SUSE installer, with Gnome 2.2 on top of it all, Sun's latest Java VM pre installed, Mozilla as the web browser, Evolution as the e-mail client, and Sun's full StarOffice 7 office suite which is based on the OpenOffice.org 1.x suite with the addition of proprietary bonuses like fonts and a thesaurus.

Firefox on my laptop running JDS R2

I instantly fell in love with this distro, which could be defined with one word: Simplicity. Unlike my past experiences with SuSE 9 and LindowsOS 4.0 (now Linspire) whose KDE default interfaces I ended up learning to hate, JDS's Gnome based desktop is a pleasure to use.

Instead of throwing "everything including the kitchen sink" like other distros, JDS includes one tool for every task a normal desktop user performs. So the web browser (Mozilla) is actually called, well, Web Browser, e-mail (Evolution) is loaded by clicking on Start->E-mail, and so on. So what was JDS R2's biggest annoyance: R2 was (is) based on an ancient 2.4 kernel by SUSE, and this, along with some nasty dependencies, makes installing some open source applications more trouble than it should be.

But a community of JDS Linux users leaped to the task and created a repository of applications - built as RPMs specifically for Sun's JDS. The main of such web sites is GCCLinux.com which hosts an impressive list of ready-to-install applications.

Mozilla and StarOffice, along with the Java VM, two key components of the "Desktop System"

Earlier this year, Sun promised to release v3 of its Linux Java Desktop System, based on a 2.6 kernel and SuSE foundation. The beta testing period had ended... and the full release was promised first for "around mid year", then the date kept moving forward... August, then September.

That was the point when the JDS Linux users' community started to get really nervous. Sun was in the middle of its Solaris 10/OpenSolaris push and this led some people to conclude that the company was going to bury its Linux offerings to focus exclusively on Solaris, prompting an official denial from the company's software VP Loiacono.

But still there was no JDS R3, so speculations ran wild. Actually, the images you can see along this article were originally intended for my review of JDS R2, but since version three was "just around the corner" I decided to wait and do a review on the final JDS Linux R3 - which never arrived.

Scanning with XSane installed on Sun's JDS Linux

Some of us thought the hold-up was actually due to delays in StarOffice version eight, finally released last month. But sources said off the record that the JDS R3 Linux product testing was "completed" and that it was "technically ready to ship". My unconfirmed suspicion was that Sun was trying to build momentum for OpenSolaris and at the same time, sources told me Sun never really made much money with every copy of JDS Linux sold, because licensing payments to Novell for the use of its underlying SUSE code are involved.

This week's announcement by execs Loiacono and Goguen clearly give JDS users like this writer some much needed confidence and hope about the future of JDS on Linux. At least we know we'll be able to continue running the Java Desktop System on top of other linux distros, not just Solaris.

JDS Linux users speak on this move
The JDS Linux users community received this move with a mix of hope and scepticism, probably tired of waiting for the never arriving R3. Terje Hanssen, an early adopter of Sun's JDS Linux who lives in Norway told the INQUIRER: "I myself will continue to look with interest on what the possible JDS Linux partner program will have to offer, but at the same time I will also be reserved. To be attractive for applications developers and users, I think that LSB Desktop soon will become a requirement. Linux users will also require open desktops and flexibility to extend their desktop environment, not to restrict their choices. If JDS can fit these requirements and gradually add some unique LG3D features, I think there can still be a future for JDS on Linux".

Dave Southern, who defined himself as a JDS linux user "since JDS started as project Mad Hatter" said: "This day has to me at least, has been quite an eventful day. Sun has acknowledged that they will share the JDS 3 desktop with the Linux communities at large. JDS, what people seem to have a problem grasping, was always an environment to work with. An OS to me is a tool to accomplish work, that's it's primary function. The beauty of Sun approach is that it provides in JDS the minimum amount of tools to be productive. Period!

That to me has always been its beauty, as I could then install whatever I needed to be productive without the bloat. I actually consider JDS to be the AK-47 of Linux Operating systems, as no matter what I installed or built for it, it continued to operate or work". He concluded by saying: "I'm no fortune teller, however, I hope one of the big fishes in the sea will rediscover the magic of a bare bones Gnome OS Linux system like JDS".

While this announcement by Sun dispels any doubt about the future of JDS on Linux, a question remains: whether the finished-but-never-shipped "JDS R3" with its 2.6 SUSE kernel would see ever see the light of day. But something can be hinted from Tom Goguen's statements: "We will also be making a reference release of JDS on a Linux distribution available".

Whether this will be a new build of JDS - say on top of Ubuntu - or the JDS R3-on-SuSE whose beta testing ended long ago, is anybody's guess. In short: this is a great move that ensures JDS on Linux has a future, and frees Sun Micro from having to deal with the kernel issues, bug fixes, and licenses/royalties payments. Java Desktop System, as a tightly integrated suite of components including the Gnome desktop, browsers from Mozilla, the Java VM and the StarOffice suite, among others, has the potential to become the desktop bundle of choice - no matter if you choose to run Linux or Solaris as the underlying kernel - which after all goes unnoticed most of the time by the end user.

In a series of e-mail exchanges with Sun execs where I asked them about the future of Sun's JDS Linux offerings, I tried to make them understand my point that getting more users running JDS on Linux in their laptops would certainly make them more likely to later consider running JDS on Opensolaris on their desktops or servers.

The beauty of having JDS as a desktop and productivity environment running on top of both Linux and Solaris is what makes Sun's software offerings so compelling.

"It's Linux AND Solaris, not OR, they're not mutually exclusive" I said to a Sun employee at one point. It seems to have understood this point, and with this announcement, they have put to rest most of the speculation about JDS on Linux. Moral of the story: complaining sometimes works, and in some instances, corporations not only hear you, but act based on your feedback. Go figure!. Will this grand plan work?. Stay tuned. µ

See Also
Sun gives JDS on Linux another push
Sun beams JDS, Looking Glass at all major Linux distro's
Indonesia adopts Java Desktop System on Linux as national standard
Windows loses another customer to Sun's JDS Linux