Don't rule out deliberate obfuscation
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| PaulFerris Jul 02, 2005 4:49 AM EDT |
This is simply the other side of the "It's not really free because every piece of software costs money to deploy" argument -- I don't trust Sun in the current 'wounded dog' climate. They represent a last hold-out of proprietary Unix vendor -- HP and IBM are embracing Linux in enterprise situations, but Sun drank the kool-aid from what I see, and now feels obligated to do stuff like this. They took money from Microsoft and stuff like this has the ring of "Let's put up an obvious staw-man that we ourselves will come by later to knock down." Months later "We done studies and found that there's no way we could sustain a market for java where the software was being given away for free." Later: "Oop, there's Solaris code in Linux. This line here matches the kernel" j++; Then there will be accusations (again) that the Linux kernel people were all thieves, that Linux is just a bunch of stolen code, that Solaris has suffered (even though it was "open source", Solaris, IMHO, will never attract the kind of crowd that Linux has). Don't laugh, I've said it before -- Sun is the next SCO -- just with deeper pockets. |
| sbergman27 Jul 02, 2005 5:11 AM EDT |
Paul, I see your point. And you are probably right. However, it is possible that Sun might go the other way, like SGI did. It's pretty clear that the company is in disarray, though at least publicly they seem to have pulled themselves together a bit lately. They have taken some positive steps recently. Solaris is not under GPL, but it's still open source. Their contributions to Openoffice.org have been invaluable. And they are even starting to use the phrase 'Open Source' in the same sentence as the word 'Java'. I think that they know what they *have* to do, though it must indeed seem a bitter pill to them, pompous as they are used to being. Before it's over, I would not be surprised if McNealy decided to retire in order to spend more time with his family. Certainly, it would be best for all parties involved if Sun did straighten up and fly right. Call me over-optimistic, but I'm still holding out hope. Sun could be a powerful ally to the community. |
| PaulFerris Jul 02, 2005 5:26 AM EDT |
Sbergman27: Good points all -- I hope, honestly, that you're right. I'll try to turn pessimist_mode off -- it's not constructive. |
| sbergman27 Jul 02, 2005 7:40 AM EDT |
One other thing that I'll throw out here, just to see what others have to say on the matter, is this. Sun does indeed appear to be a company in disarray. Scott McNealy says one thing. Schwartz says another. Random managers, engineers, etc. say totally contradictory things. When we judge them as a corporation, and by traditional standards, we deem them "a mess". However, judged by the same standards, our open source "fish bowl" is far worse. Part of what has made Sun look bad is their transparency. And that is the very quality that we see as one of our major strengths. Sun is a very proud company. "Arrogant" might be a better word. But they do seem to have more transparency of process than most corporations. (When's the last time an IBM employee was allowed to say anything publicly without getting permission from IBM legal?) In that way they are "like us" in a very significant and daring way. Does that count in their favor? |
| PaulFerris Jul 02, 2005 10:08 AM EDT |
Quoting:In that way they are "like us" in a very significant and daring way. Does that count in their favor?One huge difference between us and them -- "they" are a corporation, accountable to Wall Street. This kind of stuff can get them in trouble, not just with the SEC, but with analyists who will either flame them for it or hype the expectations of the Stock-bying-public. But I hope it's a good thing -- maybe they will show other corporations how it's done... it might be a happy ending I'm not expecting, in other words. |
| cjcox Jul 02, 2005 10:27 AM EDT |
Sun is exploring their opportunities. But that's actually wise to do when you are searching for your market niche. One opportunity where Sun has an opportunity is on the hardware side... however, I fully believe that success will only come with a merger/acquisition with Dell. Dell is rapidly heading down the Compaq path... they need to be VERY careful right now. Dell is on the verge of killing their server side completely... not a good idea since there is an opportunity for some extra margins there. Sun is producing some really nice designs.... should be out later on this year. Next years stuff is even more impressive. Sun's "open source" ploy is strictly marketing. If it's not invented at Sun (or Microsoft) it's automatically crap... and that's not in the spirit of real "open source".... and definitely not in the spirit of free software. The more engineers at Sun I meet the more I believe they are the biggest bunch of closed-minded, conceited money grabbers. They do not do due deligence, they do not investigate, they live in their own little (very little) world. |
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