In an act of desperation, the OpenSolaris governing board (OGB) has issued an ultimatum to Oracle. The company must nominate a contact person able to take decisions regarding OpenSolaris by the 16th of August or the board will dissolve and relinquish control of OpenSolaris to Oracle.

Under the OpenSolaris constitution, this state of affairs is triggered if the governing board has less than three members, i.e. it is de facto dissolved. Tensions between Oracle and the OpenSolaris community have been apparent since February, as a result of the company having ignored all attempts to establish contact.

Jeb Dabsteel, Oracle senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer, had confirmed that he would attend yesterday's OGB meeting and then, it's reported, without explanation, he didn't appear. OGB board member and Vice Chairman Jörg Schilling told The H's associates at heise Open that, unfortunately, the only course open, under the current OGB constitution, is to threaten a collective resignation and refusal to cooperate.

At yesterday's OGB meeting, Simon Phipps, previously Sun's 'Open Source Evangelist', stated that collaboration between Oracle and the OpenSolaris community was just not happening. In his opinion, in its present form, the community no longer serves a useful purpose.

See also:

OpenSolaris free CDs halted, a report from The H.

OpenSolaris future assured by Oracle, a report from The H.

(crve)