[SGVLUG] Re: Last night's meeting

[Swantje]

Thanks, Dustin, that's a lot of stuff to go through. It might have to
wait until I get back from vacation to check out the links, but I'll
definitely save this.

Swantje

On 9/12/05, Dustin <laurence at alice.caltech.edu> wrote:
> On Mon, 12 Sep 2005, Swantje wrote:
> 
> > I don't understand these insider comments, but would like to know
> > what's going on.
> >
> > So what is it that Sun is up to that is so bad? Could you summarize it
> > on the list or point me to a place where I can read an article or
> > something about it?
> 
> Well, I didn't used to save links like that because it would be like
> saving Steve Balmer quotes--there are plenty to go around.  But I started
> saving a few just for questions like that.  Here is a random selection.
> 
> Keep in mind that this isn't by any means the entirety of Sun's
> relationship with us--in fact, they are one of the most schizophrenic
> companies around, which is part of the problem.  But there is no need for
> me to try to be balanced, Sun's executive-level bigmouths talk friendly
> enough when we are the audience.  This is just an antidote to the
> kool-aid.  As I like to say, if you had a sharpshooter on your squad that
> was the best around, but every fifth bullet he would turn around and shoot
> at friendly forces, would you still want him on your team?
> 
> A lot of this stuff dates to the day that Sun decided it had more in
> common with Microsoft than us and buried the hatchet:
> 
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/04/03/why_sun_threw/
> http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20040405065529259
> 
> It's a stunning about-face, but I guess it's true that the most vocal
> bigmouth is not the person likely to be in it for the long haul.
> 
> One of the results of that was Sun and Microsoft together promoting a
> world where hardware was free with software subscriptions:
> 
> http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/free-hardware.html
> 
> There isn't actually anything in the world more hostile to either Free
> Software or consumers than that idea, and Illiad summed it up pretty
> brilliantly:
> 
> http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20040606&mode=classic
> 
> Basically, that world presupposes destroying Free Software first, because
> the business model is the opposite of the Open Source/Free Software
> business model.  I can see why it is attractive to Microsoft, of course,
> and as long as Sun is content to be a lap-dog, Sun too.
> 
> Then there is the long-running anti-GPL FUD from Sun's top junkyard dog
> and (since the rapproachment) all-around Microsoft Cat's Paw, Jonathan
> Schwartz.  Here he is quoted saying the GPL is proprietary:
> 
> http://news.com.com/Linux+license+overhaul--dont+hold+your+breath+-+page+2/2100-7344_3-5573356-2.html
> 
> My favorite for sheer stupidity and chutzpah is Schwartz's claim that the
> GPL hurts the Third World (he apparently thinks they're better off either
> spending their entire GDP on boutique Sun Hardware or just not having
> computers at all):
> 
> http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-5656047.html
> 
> The argument, unbelievably, is that hotbeds of technology like, I don't
> know, Bangaledesh would be forced to give away their software so that we
> in the US with so many global market-leading software vendors could steal
> it.  The mind boggles.
> 
> Of course, software theft *never happens* in the proprietary world either.
> :-P
> 
> Far less creative, but a perennial favorite among the minions who have
> their press releases written in Redmond, is the attempt to misrepresent
> what "Free" means (and ESR to the contrary, they do it very well with
> "Open" too):
> 
> http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/linuxunix/0,39020390,39206659,00.htm
> 
> While Schwartz is the main Cat's Paw, Scott McNealy plays the game too.
> Here he talks love and kisses:
> 
> http://www.itworld.com/Man/3828/020816mcnealy/
> 
> But by the time of this article Sun has decided to downplay Linux:
> 
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/21/sun_linux_labotamy/
> 
> Nothing wrong with that in itself--Sun isn't obliged to advertise Linux or
> anything else.  But given the level of friendly rhetoric Sun sometimes
> produces, it is a useful example of how absolutely meaningless their
> pronouncements are.  You can believe what a Sun exec says for what?  A
> day?  An hour?
> 
> That's enough.  Mostly following Sun's press releases makes me want to
> puke, so I don't collect links all that hard.
> 
> Note that I always try to distinguish between Sun the company and Sun's
> current management and frantic "strategy du jour" style.  Sun has great
> unix engineers and has done amazing things that benefited all of us.
> Generally, they are our friends either because we share the same values or
> at least because we (as a community) tend to appreciate great engineering
> whatever the source.  But anyone who thinks their current management are
> our "friends"  probably thinks that a lion who keeps an eye on you instead
> of attacking because he isn't quite hungry yet is a friend too.
> 
> I've always said I wished Sun would tank in the marketplace just hard
> enough and long enough to get McNeely and Schwartz fired, followed by a
> quick return to profitability under management whose main professional
> skills are not being loudmouths.  Not likely, though.
> 
> In the mean time, don't drink the kool-aid.
> 
> Dustin
> 
> 


-- 
"Small things done with great love will change the world."