Friday July 16, 2004

I read another article around Sun and Open Source here. Overall I kinda liked reading the blog entry because it gave Sun some credit for our open source involvement. Why aren't more trade rags giving Sun credit on our open source involvement? The fact that Sun is even talking about open sourcing so many technologies should be getting more trade rag folks pretty stoked. IMHO, they are not that stoked, but why?

I can't think of another corporation, especially of Sun's size, that is open sourcing so many technologies. For a taste of what we have done, go to http://www.sunsource.net. Some of these technologies are out on the fringe and still being proved (but are important IMHO), liked Jxta and Looking Glass. But some of the discussions Sun is involved in center around some pretty core technologies, like Java and Solaris. Yeah, the actual open sourcing of Java is probably much further away (and being decided way over my head), but at least we are coming to the table to talk about it.

Here is one example where I do take some exception to this article. Sean, the blogger, states that Sun is heading towards a train wreck in the app server space. Sun is not the only car on the track. If it is true for Sun, it is true of any "middleware" vendor? You can argue that the train is further down the track for some, but nonetheless, the train is still coming. I think Sean feels Sun is the first car on the track in the appserver space. Ok, that is a debatable but valid argument. Sun is making tons of progress in the AppServer space. I think Sun's talk and execution around open sourcing many of its technologies is more about returning to our "roots" by building communities. That is what made Sun so valuable to the industry a decade or two ago. I will suggest that one of Sun's core competencies is building (and participating in) communities.

Why aren't so many other vendors held to the same open source standard? Why isn't the trade press clamouring for other vendors (IBM/Oracle/BEA) to open source their *core* technologies? Is it simply because Sun is talking about it and deserves the microscope? Feel free to comment on it. I am not trying to position Sun as "the great open sourcer" and I am not trying to tell other vendors what to do with their intellectual property. I am simply asking for some trade rags to give Sun credit for open sourcing so many technologies, and for even coming to the table on some pretty *core* technologies. Sean is not alone in being a bit impatient on Sun open sourcing Solaris. Open sourcing intellectual property takes time, money and lawyers.

I'll admit that the role of Sean and his peers is to question Sun, to question our conviction and to question our statements as marketing. I just hope that when we do what we say we want to do, that they will give Sun more credit.