yeah they are a bit of a whipping boy. I guess from an outsider perspective they can appear as arrogant - so there is an aspect of schadenfreude to watching them suffer (I know I am guitly of it) but really they are a great company that does and did great things, that have incredible people working for them.
I really hope something good happens, despite what I may think at times, and what the blogosphere says. On Nov 21, 3:28 pm, sherod <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The trouble I see in the blogosphere is there is a serious lack of > friends out there for Sun, the open source types haven't bought the > vision and are still treating Sun like its one of the other evil major > vendors and the commercially aligned folk are tied to their old > mindset's of paying big bucks for 'big things'. > > I've said before I think Sun has a compelling stack from the top to > the bottom, its open, free (in many cases) and (I assume) functionally > well rounded. I think they have a vision of the future, I would > claim I believe in it and they seem, despite the naysayers, to be > trying to execute it. > > That all said, the words of Jefferson Davis come to me: (to > paraphrase): > > "If (Sun Microsystems) falls, there should be written on its > tombstone: DIED OF A THEORY." > > On Nov 21, 8:27 am, "Peter Becker" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > I personally think that: > > - Karsten is right in that shrink-wrapped has the best margins and > > still is a big market to make money in > > - this market is dying fast, thus not the future as you claim (Karsten > > didn't say that) > > - you are right that Sun is ahead of the curve and suffering the > > problems of being an early adopter > > > There was a talk in Stanford's Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Seminar > > Series (had to copy and paste that one) which had a bit on how being > > too early can kill a project and even a whole startup, unfortunately I > > don't remember the episode that was in. But I think the idea is right: > > to get a product to market the market has to be ready, if you are too > > early your product will fail even if it is good. > > > Chances aren't too bad that Sun isn't that far ahead that it would > > kill a company of its size. But I must say that I am a bit more > > concerened about the prominent people leaving Sun -- if they can't > > keep the technical innovators life will be hard for them. > > > Peter > > > On Fri, Nov 21, 2008 at 3:16 AM, andrew.bruce.law > > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > Disclosure: I used to work for Sun and despite myself (like Joe I > > > think) I still don't want to see them die. > > > > @Karsten. I follow your reasoning if the future is shrink wrapped > > > software and you're right, Sun don't follow this. > > > > However, check out Simon Phipps on FLOSS Weekly 39 [1] to see what Sun > > > *do* think it is. I honestly think things are changing in the > > > marketplace. Just look at the rise of cloud computing, IBM trying to > > > change the way it works with Jazz (which I know went down badly among > > > that audience but try it out and more importantly look at how they're > > > running the development) and MSFT slowly getting more and more OSS > > > friendly. Sun might be ahead of the curve too much and die before > > > this all comes to fruition (think "the network is the computer") but > > > even if this happens I think history might be kinder on them than Wall > > > Street is now... > > > > Or perhaps I'm dreaming. ;-) > > > > Regs, Andrew > > > > [1]http://twit.tv/floss39 > > > > On Nov 15, 11:41 pm, Joe Data <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > >> On Nov 15, 2:01 pm, Patrick Wright <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > >> > Java, broken out in terms of revenue, has brought in around $220 > > >> > million per > > >> > year for the last couple of years (no details before that). Not > > >> > knowing the costs involved, and just guessing, it seems like a pretty > > >> > tidy sum of money, which should more than cover the costs involved. I > > >> > think it must also be pretty clear to Sun that ignoring or "letting > > >> > Java die" in some way would be killing one of the golden geese at the > > >> > company, if nothing else in terms of branding. I can't imagine it, > > >> > anyhow. > > > >> It's a general assumption that Sun doesn't make money from Java, other > > >> companies do (like IBM or Oracle), and the numbers support this. Sun > > >> has an operating system, a database, Java, and middleware and made > > >> $124mln the last quarter from all its software group. IBM has > > >> operating systems, a database, system management software, and > > >> middleware and makes 5.2 bln last quarter (42 times as > > >> much,http://www.ibm.com/investor/3q08/presentation/3q08.pdf, slide 8) > > >> with > > >> a gross margin of 84.7% (that's pretty nearly a Microsoft Windows or > > >> Office margin). Nothing in the IT industry is as profitable as selling > > >> "shrink-wrapped software", a business that Sun got out by giving its > > >> software away. > > > >> Karsten > > > -- > > What happened to Schroedinger's cat? My invisible saddled white dragon ate > > it. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. 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