Re Sun changing their ticker from SUNW to JAVA, Sam Ruby's blog had a subtle dig at Sun, crossing out the "C" in "JCP", hinting that by [ab]using the Java trademark in this way, Sun was removing the Community from the ecosystem.
Now, while I agree with Sam's assessment, I don't think that the "C" needs to be removed from "JCP". Now, it simply stands for "Customer".
(Guest blog by Evil Geir)
I think this is brilliant, and now I understand completely what Rich is doing. My alter-ego, Good Geir - who does Apache Harmony - is somewhat bewildered. Good Geir presumes that this is the logical follow-on to the secretly successful but sadly misunderstood "Java Desktop System" product strategy, logically extending it now to the whole company. However, I think he's wrong - it makes perfect sense in the spirit of "go big, or go home". I can't imagine what Sun's partners in the Java ecosystem are going to do, but clearly Rich doesn't care.
http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/entry/java_is_everywhere
(I do wonder if they'll be spinning off their server and microelectronics businesses now that they've finally settled on a business plan.)
UPDATE : This blog was referenced on http://rollerweblogger.org/roller/entry/blogs_on_sun_s_new, but I think that the author missed my point - if the business objective is to unwind the notion of Java as a collaborative ecosystem, and turn it into a one-company product (like .NET), then this *is* a brilliant move. The whole fight with Apache - shafting a long-time Java supporter and valued community member by Sun ignoring their JSPA obligations and public promises for the stated purpose of defending revenue - makes perfect sense in this light. Community be damned, there's revenue here somewhere... As my good-twin Good Geir suggested, just change the "C" in JCP to mean "Customer".
I spent a few days with Brian and other smart friends last week, and he had the perfect analogy for how we got into the mess we did regarding concurrency in Java - we "frog-boiled" our way into it.
So, by the power vested in my by the encouragement of Bruce Eckel, I hereby challenge Brian to... blog about it. Please? :)
