A question I get asked a lot is now that Caldera has taken over SCO, where does that leave traditional SCO UNIX/OpenServer customers? Does it mean that customers should shift from OpenServer to SCO's Linux products or even OpenUNIX 8 (previously known as Unixware7)?
The current realease of OpenServer as at the date shown at the foot of this web page is SCO OpenServer 5.0.7 and there is are future versions planned for the future. This answers the question of OpenServer's future - it is still going to be around for some time to come.
While I am aware some application vendors and database distributors have indicated that they will not develop the releases of their product(s) on SCO OpenServer any further, it is incorrect for them to state that OpenServer is no longer being developed and released.
In a recent meeting I had with the Regional General Manager for the Pacific Region, I was told that SCO values the investment that traditional SCO OpenServer based customers have in OpenServer and see OpenServer as one of its continued product offerings. (hence 5.0.8...)
OpenServer is ideal for those customers who have maintained their applications under this environment and who are more than content to stay with this robust product - why fix what isn't broken.
One distinguishing factor that customers should be aware of is that OpenServer is designed for the current 32-bit based server architecture. It will not run (or at least I am led to believe) on the new 64-bit based servers and while we wait for the various vendors to make the software and hardware solutions to run on 64-bit, the common place server being sold today is still 32-bit. This whole scenario may change in the future as Caldera changed their name to the SCO Group and have re-committed to pouring resources into the OpenServer product range.
If you are looking at embracing the 64-bit systems then the recommendation is to consider SCO Open UNIX8 or Caldera OpenLinux platforms. This lies heavily on what your current software application vendor has in mind but for the most part vendors continue to support OpenServer based applications.
From DAVROM's perspective, we still continue to actively support and maintain SCO/Caldera OpenServer based systems which comprises of most of our active support business to date. It integrates well into any environment and you can further enhance your network by adding Linux servers to perform additional tasks such as Internet connectivity where later releases of e-mail (Sendmail/PostFix - Volution Message Server), webserver (Apache) and firewall products are available - leaving OpenServer to continue to run your mission critical server application(s).
OpenServer - A great product to work with and one I am sure to continue supporting for many years to come.
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