Sun Articulates a LAMP Strategy for the Low End
Computerworld reported yesterday that Sun Microsystems will attempt to leverage the LAMP tools in its effort to enter the low-end Internet server market. LAMP refers to Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP. This term is widely used in the OpenSource community (example: O'Reilly's OnLAMP), and can also refer to the Perl and Python programming languages.
This is an interesting development because Sun is endorsing a major OpenSource development methodology for the market below that which it is serving with J2EE services. In the past, major companies have been reluctant to develop client-facing applications based on these technologies because none of their vendors have been willing to support all of these components.
A lot of corporate web applications do not require the scalability that comes with traditional application servers. So, Sun's strategy is a very practical / economical one. It will be interesting to see if the UNIX-based financial services companies change their development philosophies now.