MESSAGE
| DATE | 2003-10-02 |
| FROM | From: "Inker, Evan"
|
| SUBJECT | RE: [hangout] ESR: After Sun Goes Out
|
Not sure how much Cash but every news site is carrying similar stories about
Sun's demise.
Regards,
Evan M. Inker (New York) x. 4615
-----Original Message-----
From: Ruben I Safir [mailto:ruben-at-mrbrklyn.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 02, 2003 6:06 PM
To: EInker-at-gam.com
Cc: hangout-at-nylxs.com
Subject: Re: [hangout] ESR: After Sun Goes Out
How much cash does Sun have?
BTW - ESR is no business guinius
Ruben
On 2003.10.02 14:39 "Inker, Evan" wrote:
>
> ESR: After Sun Goes Out
> Oct 2, 2003, 14 :00 UTC (19 Talkback[s]) (6747 reads)
> (Other stories by Eric S. Raymond)
>
http://linuxtoday.com/it_management/mailprint.php3?action=pv<sn=2003-10-02
> -014-26-OP-BZ-SW
>
> By Eric S. Raymond
> President, Open Source Initiative
>
> Sun Microsystems crossed the line from "troubled" to "doomed"
> yesterday. This is sad news for the open-source community, and we need
> to think about how we're going to deal with it. The most pressing
> questions are "What becomes of Java?" and "What becomes of
> OpenOffice.org?" These are questions that matter.
>
> Sun's troubles have been mounting for a while. Founder Bill Joy's
> departure was an ominous recent symbol, but the substance of their
> problem is that their huge-margin server business is being eroded from
> the low end by PCs running Linux at a rate that doesn't leave it much
> of a future.
>
> Nobody should cheer the prospect of Sun's demise. Sun screwed up some
> major decisions very badly, from wrecking Unix standardization efforts
> in the 1980s to throttling the dream of Java ubiquity by keeping the
> language proprietary. But nobody should forget that Sun was founded by
> Unix hackers for Unix hackers. For most of its lifespan Sun remained
> the archetype of an engineering-driven company. Sun was, mostly, among
> the good guys; to hackers and geeks, disputing with Sun was almost a
> family quarrel.
>
> But inside Sun, I hear that talent is bailing out of the company
> because they just don't believe the Solaris-will-prevail story
> management is peddling. Most of Sun's techies are running Linux on
> their PCs at home. They can see the handwriting on the wall.
>
> In retrospect, the recent pronunciamento that Sun has no Linux
> strategy was their final admission of failure. Sun can't run at the
> lean profit margins that are all a commoditized Linux server market
> will support, their cost structure is all wrong for it. They got
> trapped in a classic innovator's dilemma and didn't cannibalize their
> own business while they had the investor confidence and maneuvering
> room to do so. Cuddling up to SCO didn't help, either.
>
> And now it's too late. Moody's has just about dropped Sun into the
> junk-bond basement. The stock closed at $3.31, 15% off for the day and
> falling in heavy trading. The recent product announcements have been
> duds, and the upcoming quarterlies are going to be a disaster. Wall
> street analysts are calling for drastic job cuts and speaking the code
> phrases that mean "run for the hills!" The smell of death is in the
> air.
>
> Any of Sun's people and tangible assets that don't scatter to the four
> winds will probably wind up in the hands of IBM, HP, and Dell--three
> companies that have shown they do know how to play the
> commodity-computing game. The SCO lawsuit probably won't be affected.
> Sun was the lesser-known of of SCO's sugar daddies along with
> Microsoft, but Redmond can pick up Sun's share of funding the lawsuit
> out of petty cash--and it undoubtedly will.
>
> The real question is two-fold: can OpenOffice.org survive without Sun
> and where will Java land? Probably not at Microsoft; with C# in the
> picture, it is unlikely that Microsoft even wants to own Java any
> more. I have to guess that IBM is the most likely to shoulder both
> technologies, simply because nobody else is really positioned to do
> it. But that, of course, raises other worries--is it really good for
> us if IBM has a lead position in everything?
>
> Related Stories:
> Reuters: Sun Shares Tumble, Wall St Seeks Deeper Cost Cuts(Oct 01, 2003)
> NewsForge: What Sun Needs To Do Now to Survive(Sep 30, 2003)
>
>
> **********************************************************************
> ******
> This message contains confidential information and is intended only
> for the individual or entity named. If you are not the named addressee
> you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail.
> Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received
> this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system.
> E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free
> as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive
> late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not
> accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this
> message which arise as a result of e-mail transmission.
> If verification is required please request a hard-copy version.
> This message is provided for informational purposes and should not
> be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any securities or
> related financial instruments.
> GAM operates in many jurisdictions and is
> regulated or licensed in those jurisdictions as required.
>
****************************************************************************
>
> ____________________________
> NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
> Fair Use -
> because it's either fair use or useless....
> NYLXS is a trademark of NYLXS, Inc
>
--
__________________________
Brooklyn Linux Solutions
__________________________
DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS http://fairuse.nylxs.com
http://www.mrbrklyn.com - Consulting
http://www.inns.net <-- Happy Clients
http://www.nylxs.com - Leadership Development in Free Software
http://www2.mrbrklyn.com/resources - Unpublished Archive or stories and
articles from around the net http://www2.mrbrklyn.com/downtown.html - See
the New Downtown Brooklyn....
1-718-382-0585
****************************************************************************
This message contains confidential information and is intended only
for the individual or entity named. If you are not the named addressee
you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail.
Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received
this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system.
E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free
as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive
late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not
accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this
message which arise as a result of e-mail transmission.
If verification is required please request a hard-copy version.
This message is provided for informational purposes and should not
be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any securities or
related financial instruments.
GAM operates in many jurisdictions and is
regulated or licensed in those jurisdictions as required.
****************************************************************************
____________________________
NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
Fair Use -
because it's either fair use or useless....
NYLXS is a trademark of NYLXS, Inc
|
|
