Is Java cooling off?

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Sun does have a problem.

The world now belongs to cheap hardware, so finding ways to be profitable isn't easy. Java is one of those ways.

But if Sun is going to save money by laying off their programming staff, they need to leverage free labor.
The volunteers are willing to displace as many Sun programmers as possible, but in return they require that the software be made available in a way that prevents a lot of other hiring and job retention within the industry.

IBM and others in league are resentful that they have to pay anyone for software. Providing fees to Sun is especially galling to IBM, because they used Sun's battle with Microsoft to steal a lot of Sun's core business. And yet they still have to pay a company that foolish. IBM also wants to set the strategic direction for Java as easily as they can control the open source projects they care about.

And the idealist open source programmers are in danger of noticing that open source strategy is being used for commercial advantage, without reference to Microsoft, which happily continues on its own way with .Net.
Why, if open source is proven irrelevant to Microsoft on this issue, people might notice how basically irrelevant it is everywhere else.

So, the pressure is on Sun to give away their most valuable property.

Sun is temporizing. They're producing stuff they can sell. They're persuading open source contributors that some day they'll give away their most valuable possession. They're making peace with Microsoft to gain an ally, insofar as possible, against IBM and to gather more cash.
The next piece of the battle is going to be to try to get back control from the committees IBM has set up in advance of the direct control of Java they'd quickly gain if it did become open source.

The principle Sun has finally come to accept is: IBM is the enemy.
Would many others did, too.

Posted by: Anton Philidor   Posted on: 06/28/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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