We’ve long wondered what might happen to all of that open source software from Sun Microsystems now that it’s at Oracle? Obviously, some pieces continue to live at Oracle (Java, Solaris, MySQL), but there are a number of open source projects that Oracle has either neglected to talk about or have been overlooked, particularly as we focused on user reactions, implications and finally approval of Oracle’s acquisition of Sun.
One significant group of open source technologies from Sun is its OpenSSO single sign-on identity and access management software, which is now serving as the basis for startup ForgeRock. The company, based in Norway, plans to not only support, but to also extend the OpenSSO platform and provide identity and authentication, and then additional components such as directory service and portal. The OpenSSO source code, licensed under the CDDL open source license, will be renamed under ForgeRock’s Open Access Management (OpenAM) brand, but backers insist they are not forking OpenSSO, for which Oracle still owns copyrights. Instead, ForgeRock says it intends to provide some continuity for OpenSSO users and it is already providing subscriptions for customers including online gambling service provider Betfair and Norwegian state railway company NBS AS. Similar to the code for ForgeRock originating at Sun Microsystems, so have many of its executives, including: Chief Strategy Officer Simon Phipps, formerly Sun’s chief open source strategist, CEO Lasse Andresen, a former Sun CTO, and Director of Sales Hermann Svoren, a former Sun Client Executive.
The use of the open source technologies developed at Sun now, after the company has been absorbed by Oracle, is a shining example of the efficiency of open source software. If the code truly has potential and legs, as its open source-experienced backers believe it does, they are free to take that code and run with it, regardless of how that may or may not fit into Oracle’s strategy and competitive perspective. This makes ForgeRock’s technology among the most interesting of Sun’s legacy of open source software to watch.
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