Think you've got a lot riding on open source? Sun Microsystems is making one of the industry's boldest bets on the model, that becoming a top supplier of open source code will grab a new generation of customers.

It made the Solaris operating system and Java Standard Edition open source code to attract more early-stage users of Sun software who then might buy enterprise versions and technical support, and ideally even Sun gear. Same story with its $1 billion purchase of MySQL, provider of the open source database. "Many software agreements pull hardware sales upon completion," says Rich Green, executive VP for software.

Will the next generation materialize soon enough? Sun lost $1.7 billion in its most recent quarter. Green says Sun is satisfied with its progress, though it would like more conversions to paying customers and more long-term support contracts. One way Sun is trying to drive revenue is with integrated packages, such as combining MySQL, its open source GlassFish app server, and NetBeans tools for $65,000 a year.

GlassFish drew 150,000 registered developers this year, Green says, and developers in an Evans Data survey rated it sixth, just behind JBoss. With GlassFish, Open Solaris, and MySQL, Green says Sun's building an "enormous user community." Now Sun has to prove that this community, code, and integrated sets are enough to drive the new software revenue strategy Sun's betting so much on.

Photo illustrations by Sek Leung