Sun says Microsoft pact not a blow to standards

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Pointing to your own writings proves what?

Pointing to your own writings proves what? That you agree with yourself? Well, be that as it may:

The interesting thing I kept seeing in your article was your assertion that the things Sun has done in the past has been a big benefit to the end user. I won't even argue that at this point (maybe later) but I have to point out that while it may have put a lot of expensive software in the hands of users for free, it has NOT put money in Sun's hands and that is the real problem Sun must deal with, and deal with NOW.

It appears that you do indeed follow the industry news and so you know that the news is, Sun's in DEEP trouble. Yes I know about their war chest, but I also see the P&L sheet for the last 10 consecutive quarters. No company (for-profit) can live like that and no stockholder is going to be happy about it. And that is who is calling a truce to the Scott and Bill show. If you have ever seen or heard Scott talk about MS, you KNOW he isn't the one that called a truce. I also believe it is the reason behind the management changes which Scott said was not needed and would not happen. (COO position)

The real concern, at least for the open source folks, is that this may have left a very bitter taste in the stockholders mouth (ala Corel and Open Source) and they shy away from a business model without measurable and immediate returns. Measurable they may get, but immediate returns are not going to happen because it will take huge efforts and time to turn Sun around. In other words, promices of long term returns aren't likely to excite anyone that has a finacial stake in Sun. In fact, I feel that the exact opposite would happen and the first employee that suggests giving anything more away is going to be roasted. I suppose the first real indicator will be if current programs contine to recieve funding or if they too are "downsized".

Regardless of personal feelings, Sun had to align itself with someone that was on a winning team. In this market there were really only two possible/reasonable choices, IBM and Microsoft. Again, I'm speaking from an investors point of view. Partnering with say Red Hat, simply wouldn't make any sort of blip in Sun's bottom line.

As IBM directly competes with every offering Sun has, they would be ruled out immediately. A partnering with them would have been compitulation and little more. But with Microsoft there were real advantages. First, don't look down your nose at $2 billion! Sun NEEDS cash. Even with the cash, they are cutting their work force, again. As we both know, MS has just happens some cash laying around and Sun was the one filling in the amount of the check. A perfect match from a financial view point.

The question now is, how will it impact open source. Notice I said how it will, not if it will. That's because it simply isn't possible for it not to. You can't change this big a piece of the landscape without affecting the entire landscape. Can't be done. Will Microsoft get something out of this "partnering"? Of course they will. Say what you will about them but they ain't no dummies and contracts is something they excel at.

You also have to ask yourself how this changes things in the IBM camp. It would be foolish to assume IBM isn't concerned (in a positive way) about what their two biggest competitiors have done. Will that change how they view open source and their investment in it? I am sure it will, I just haven't the faintest clue which way it will go. They may see this as a challenge and set up even stronger, or they may think they are the only real power player in the space and cut back and work on other areas of competition.

Posted by: No_Ax_to_Grind   Posted on: 04/06/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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