Barton George, an open source expert whom I met at Ubuntu Live in 2007, has resigned from Sun Microsystems to join a software company in Austin, Texas. I wish George well in his new position. At the same time, I increasingly wonder if Sun can solidify its open source strategy and turn around the company. Barton isn’t the only open source expert to leave Sun in recent days, notes our sister site, The VAR Guy.

The VAR Guy (www.thevarguy.com) is investigating a rumor that Sun may replace CEO Jonathan Schwartz. Sun’s stock is tanking and the company is struggling. But Schwartz has open-source smarts and he orchestrated the $1 billion takeover of MySQL. And don’t forget these two items: Sun actually offers Ubuntu on its servers. And MySQL has been one of the most vocal supporters of Ubuntu.

While most major server vendors take a “wait and see” approach to Ubuntu, a major Canadian Web host says the server operating system is ready for prime time. Indeed, Cirrus Tech is now offering Ubuntu on its server hosting plans. Here’s a closer look at Cirrus Tech’s announcement, and the state of Ubuntu on the server.

The Ubuntu Live conference doesn’t kick off until July 21, but The VAR Guy is already booking his flight to the Portland, Oregon-based event. Here are five key trends our guest blogger expects to track at the event.

When Sun announced a major open source initiative targeting small and midsize businesses this week, a lot of people failed to realize that Sun would include servers certified for Ubuntu. Here’s the scoop, from our sister site, The VAR Guy (www.thevarguy.com).

When the next version of Ubuntu Linux ships in April, there’s a reasonable chance that server vendors could start jumping on the Ubuntu bandwagon by May or so, according to our sister Web site, www.thevarguy.com. And if Ubuntu gains server traction, it could move more easily into the Software as a Service (SaaS) industry.

I’m out in Colorado Springs this week for an Avnet/Sun Microsystems partner conference. Although I’m blogging away from my MacBook Pro, I was pleased to see dozens of attendees using Sun Ray 270 thin clients. Sun donated the systems for the event’s cyber cafe. Each thin client includes the Thunderbird e-mail client, StarOffice 8 and Firefox. Sun would be wise to show these thin clients — and their open source components — at additional events across the country. Most users don’t even realize they’re on a thin client rather than a PC.

Google vs. Microsoft is always a fun topic. Throw in open source software and Sun Microsystems, and the discussion gets even more fun. Apparently, Google is quietly offering Sun’s StarOffice to customers. That’s suite … er, sweet! StarOffice, the big brother to OpenOffice, will certainly benefit from the Google exposure. And in my experience, OpenOffice is a great, free, reliable replacement for about 95 percent of all Microsoft Office users.