Looks like IBM will buy Sun after all (update: NOT! (update: Oracle!))

[Sam Gunn (since nobody got Admiral Naismith)]

Yer a drama queen, Libman.

I hope Java is dead because java is everything I hate about C++, married with everything I hate about Smalltalk.

Anyway, shorting IBM is out, and GLD is in!

Yeah I was going to say that Java sucks too.   

[Alex Libman]

We agree that Java sucks, but it has a huge presence in the business world, and there has been the chance that Java 7 would suck a lot less.  That hope is now diminished.

[sillyperson]

there has been the chance that Java 7 would suck a lot less

What, they're finally going to have pointers and structs?

[Alex Libman]

See, that's why I hate Java, it's neither town nor country: no good for systems programming nor rapid scripting.  It makes far more sense to master multiple complimentary languages (C and Perl / JavaScript / whatever) than to keep up with all the stupid crap various different companies / individuals have done to try to get Java to work for them.

Microsoft has done a much better job without forcing one aging language down your throat: native C/C++, managed C++, C#, PowerShell, Oslo / M-based domain-specific languages, XAML, etc.  Microsoft is also ahead with dynamic languages and research into fully-managed operating systems.

And, needless to say, Microsoft has a full-stack solution - does anyone actually use a Web browser / spreadsheet / media player written in Java?  Sun's "Java desktop" is a mess: different apps have different technologies under the hood and totally different scripting / plug-in API's.  They've got Gtk, XUL, Swing, they've barely managed to avoid Mono that's making inroads into Gnome, and then of course you install Eclipse / Azureus which uses IBM's SWT, and good luck using a *NIX desktop for a while without ending up needing something from Qt-land as well...

[Alex Libman]

From Slashdot -- What If Oracle Bought Sun Microsystems? --

"Fatal Exception's Neil McAllister believes Oracle is next in line to make a play for Sun now that IBM has withdrawn its offer.

Dismissing server market arguments in favor of Cisco or Dell as suitors, McAllister suggests that MySQL, ZFS, DTrace, and Java make Sun an even better asset to Oracle than to IBM. MySQL as a complement to Oracle's existing database business would make sense, given Oracle's 2005 purchase of Innobase, and with "the long history of Oracle databases on Solaris servers, it might actually see owning Solaris as an asset," McAllister writes.

But the "crown jewel" of the deal would be Java. "It's almost impossible to overestimate the importance of Java to Oracle. Java has become the backbone of Oracle's middleware strategy," McAllister contends.

I don't think this is realistic, but still...  I sure am glad I've always preferred PostgreSQL... 

[sillyperson]

I have no insight into this (Larry and I almost never do lunch ) but at least Sun and Oracle have similar corporate cultures, and indeed a lot of Sun people have worked at ORCL and vice-versa. The only thing of value SUNW has is its talent. Period.

[Alex Libman]

I've seen companies maintain heterogeneous facilities with very different employee cultures.  Microsoft is one: they have their t-shirted geeks and their buttoned-down sales sharks, lobbyists, and so on.  Nokia isn't forcing anyone at Qt Software to stop playing death metal, to get haircuts, and sing company songs.  Etc.

[sillyperson]

I've seen companies maintain heterogeneous facilities with very different employee cultures.

Bet you all those companies are getting from the acquisition is the ability to consolidate backoffice systems (payroll, etc)
That's not good enough to inject new life into a dying product line-up like Sun has

[Luke Smith]

Yer a drama queen, Libman.

I hope Java is dead because java is everything I hate about C++, married with everything I hate about Smalltalk.

Anyway, shorting IBM is out, and GLD is in!

Yeah go Denis!! I hate Java too!!

[Alex Libman]

OK, ok, so...  Oracle...  Sun... 

I
WAS
WRONG
!!!

((I'm sorry if that's not big and red enough for you, I think the font sizes here go up to 99pt.)  Yeah, this news ain't exactly fresh, but I've been hiding in a closet since I heard of this refusing to come out.  (OK, from my forum activity you know that isn't true, but the part of my brain that deals with the software industry was.)  Anywayz...)


From Slashdot -- Oracle Buys Sun --

Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) and Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA) announced today they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Oracle will acquire Sun common stock for $9.50 per share in cash. The transaction is valued at approximately $7.4 billion, or $5.6 billion net of Sun's cash and debt.

"We expect this acquisition to be accretive to Oracle's earnings by at least 15 cents on a non-GAAP basis in the first full year after closing. We estimate that the acquired business will contribute over $1.5 billion to Oracle's non-GAAP operating profit in the first year, increasing to over $2 billion in the second year. This would make the Sun acquisition more profitable in per share contribution in the first year than we had planned for the acquisitions of BEA, PeopleSoft and Siebel combined," said Oracle President Safra Catz.

Also from Slashdot -- Ballmer, IBM Surprised By Oracle-Sun Deal --

Reporters caught up with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in Moscow to get his take on Oracle's deal to buy Sun Microsystems for US$7.4 billion. Ballmer was at a loss for words: "I need to think about it. I am very surprised."

According to a source, IBM hadn't given up on purchasing Sun and was blindsided by Oracle's move. I guess IBM must be regretting playing tough 2 weeks ago. Unknown to outsiders, Sun had probably found the Oracle lifeboat before they decided to pull the plug on the deal.

[Ecolitan]

The only thing of value SUNW has is its talent. Period.

I know nothing of any of this so please tell me, How does a company manage to have valuable talent without that talent creating for them something else of value.

[Alex Libman 15]

From Slashdot -- Slow Oracle Merger Leads To Outflow of Sun Projects, Coders --

Sun Microsystems might have had a chance if the Oracle merger had gone through quickly, but between the DoJ taking its time and the European Commission, which seems to get off on abusing American firms, just plain dragging its feet, that won't happen now.  As Sun twists in the wind, unable to defend itself, and Oracle is unable to do anything until the deal closes, IBM is pretty much tearing Sun to shreds.  By the time this deal closes, there won't be much left for Oracle. This is not how a Silicon Valley legend should end.

[Bill Brasky]

That should work quite nicely into my ORCL chart. 

[sillyperson]

I don't see US coders leaving.

[AL the Inconspicuous]

From Slashdot -- Sun Microsystems To Cut 3,000 Jobs As Oracle Deal Drags On --

Sun will be shedding 3,000 jobs, roughly 10% of their workforce, as they continue to lose money while waiting for EC regulators to approve their acquisition by Oracle.  "Oracle Chief Executive Officer Larry Ellison said Sept. 22 that Sun is losing about $100 million a month as the transaction is delayed by the EU probe."

James Staten, an analyst with Forrester, said, "The longer a cloud of uncertainty hangs over Sun, that drives customers into delays of purchases or into the hands of competitors.  This is a very trying time for Sun and Oracle as they wait for an answer."

A spokesman for EU Competition Comissioner Neelie Kroes said today that she "expressed her disappointment that Oracle failed to produce, despite repeated requests, either hard evidence that there were no competition problems or a proposal for a remedy to the competition concerns identified by the commission," and that "a rapid solution lies in Oracle's hands.