Sun's commitment to open source is strengthening further as the company has become a part of the free software Foundation which aided in initiating the open source era. Patrons of the Free Software Foundation or FSF are required to make a financial contribution in exchange for using its logo on their website. Patrons are also imparted free consultation on the General Public License of FSF.

Simon Phipps, chief open source officer, Sun Microsystems stated in blog entry:

With Sun turning to the GPL, in addition to its own Common Development and Distribution License, it seemed obvious that the connections should become stronger.

Sun has now joined the ranks of major companies such as Google, IBM and Intel after becoming a patron of the foundation. This has further strengthened the commitment of Sun to take the open source route and would certainly add to its popularity.