Sun Shines Up Free Software Slate

It's getting harder and harder to buy software from Sun Microsystems (SUNW Quote), because the company would rather give it away.

Sun, which already gives away its Solaris operating system, said Wednesday it will make a key suite of software and developer tools available at no cost for both development and deployment. But taking a page from the Open Source playbook, Sun will charge for support.

The company figures that getting its software into the hands of developers will lead to market opportunities. "Volume wins in the marketplace for technology; the price that drives the most volume is free," said Jonathan Schwartz, president and COO of Sun. ...