Last year, Red Hat CEO Matthew Szulik thought Sun Microsystems" open source-based alternative to Microsoft"s widely used Office software would encourage broader use of the Linux operating system on desktops and perhaps loosen the iron grip of Windows.
But Szulik abandoned those hopes when Sun started charging for its StarOffice product and changed its way of dealing with the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), such as Red Hat, which can bundle it with their own offerings. Szulik accused Sun of adopting the domineering methods of mutual enemy Microsoft.
Sun, Szulik said in an interview this week, "put the price tag on it and took the Microsoft approach with the OEMs."
Mike Rogers, Sun"s general manager for desktop and office-productivity software, bridles at the comparison.
"Last time I checked, Microsoft didn"t have Office available for $76 and didn"t build in the source code," he said in an interview, adding that Sun charges companies such as Red Hat very little for StarOffice, indicating the price could be less than $10 per copy.