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With the open-source community being embraced by the tech giants like never before, there have been questions about how these actions will benefit the companies that opened their patents up.

The open-source community stands to benefit, if only for the reason of getting access to these patented utilities, but what advantages do companies like Sun receive? Some believe opening Solaris up is a no-lose situation for Sun. Business Week Online explains why:

"the move doesn't threaten Sun's revenue stream since corporate customers typically want commercial versions of operating systems, complete with on-going support. This gesture benefits Sun because it helps cement its relationships with current Solaris developers and customers--who value being able to understand and tinker with their operating system source code."

This can certainly pave the way for new innovations, and perhaps even serve as a recruiting tool. However, Sun is not letting these patents fly out without any supervision. According to their web site, "Sun will also establish a Community Advisory Board to help oversee the evolution of OpenSolaris OS technology and the community development efforts."

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