Sun Launches Open Source Awards Program

By Greg McNevin

December 7, 2007: Sun Microsystems has just announced a new open source software awards program that is expected to pay out millions to innovative developers around the world, and give a much needed boost to the global open source community.

Called the Open Source Community Innovation Awards Program, Sun says the multi-year project will foster innovation and provide recognition for some of the most interesting initiatives within open source communities around the world.

To kick off the program, the company has selected six communities to participate, namely GlassFish, NetBeans, OpenJDK, OpenOffice.org, OpenSolaris and OpenSPARC.

The competition is slated to officially start in mid-January 2008, when Sun and the six open source communities will announce details on how developers can participate in the individual programs. Each community will have its own contest rules and judging criteria. Prize winners will be announced in August 2008, with the total prize pool expected to be at least US$1 (AU$1.15) million a year.

“Developer communities are at the heart of tech industry innovation and are Sun's lifeblood,” said Jonathan Schwartz, CEO and President of Sun Microsystems.

“Every software product at Sun - literally billions of dollars in assets - is going free and open source, and fueling the communities and innovation around these technologies is our top priority. I can't wait to see the creativity, passion, and vibrancy of the program's participants.”

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