Sun Microsystems Inc. may focus most of its attention on its proprietary UNIX, Solaris, but with customer demand for Linux support spiking, the company revealed Monday that it will provide a new Linux version of its iPlanet Application Server software.

"Over the past year, we have seen increased demand among our customer base for Linux support," said Wes Wasson, vice president of iPlanet product marketing at Sun. "While most customers are continuing to deploy on the Solaris OE (operating environment) platform, they are developing on multiple platforms and we are committed to providing the robust, open foundation they need to build applications and services on demand. Coupled with Forte For Java Enterprise Edition, Sun will soon offer open source developers a compelling and comprehensive end-to-end Linux development environment that enables developers to easily build, test and debug robust services on demand and J2EE applications."

Sun already offers Linux support for iPlanet Message Queue and iPlanet Web Server.

The company said its decision underscores its continued commitment to cross platform support across the Sun Open Net Environment (ONE). iPlanet already supports Solaris, Windows, IBM's AIX, HP-UX and OS/390.

Sun's decision to put more support behind Linux is a reflection of the numbers. In an analysis last year, IDC said Linux represented more than a quarter of server operating environment new license shipments.