The Subscription Model: A Necessary Trend for Open Source Deployers sounds like a what we are doing with Bryght. Just substitute 'Bryght' for 'Sun' and remember that we only offer a hosted service for Drupal sites; we don't sell Drupal bundled into a package that you can install on your own server. Other than that it's basically what Bryght is doing!

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Instead, Sun acts like the editor-in-chief of the JDS 'publication'. Staff select the software components to include and exclude, work to integrate them, constribute to each of the open source communities to improve their compatibility and completeness. Sun packages and delivers the final publication, offers support and updates, fixes security exposures, offers indemnity and generally joins the communities so you don't have to.

You don't buy the software from Sun - instead you subscribe to the editorial outlook. Sun's editorial view is to deliver high function, ease of use, data format and networking compatibility, low migration cost, re-use of existing hardware, escape from Windows viruses and security risks and minimal retraining. If that's an editorial outlook that fits your corporate needs, you'd do well to subscribe.

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