Let the bloodbath begin. If anyone has insight on any impact on Java, let us know. http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/14/news/companies/sun_microsystems/index.htm?postversion=2008111408

Let the bloodbath begin. If anyone has insight on any impact on Java, let us know. http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/14/news/companies/sun_microsystems/index.htm?postversion=2008111408

I think the bigger news is that Rich Green is leaving Sun. He's been very supportive of Java over the years. But what worries me is *why* he's leaving. On the positive side - Java is more than just Sun - it will survive and continue to thrive but it will need the broader ecosystem to step up and take up some of the slack. Rich Sharples JBoss, a division of Red Hat http://blog.softwhere.org/

I think the bigger news is that Rich Green is leaving Sun. He's been very supportive of Java over the years. But what worries me is *why* he's leaving.

I didn't see it in the article... why is he leaving?

I think the bigger news is that Rich Green is leaving Sun. He's been very supportive of Java over the years. But what worries me is *why* he's leaving.

I didn't see it in the article... why is he leaving?

Here right at the bottom of this article : http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10983300?source=most_emailed Indeed the question is why he's leaving. After some more digging it seems that Anil Gadre (Sun's CMO) is taking over most of software (including Java) : http://www.eweek.com/c/a/IT-Infrastructure/Sun-Microsystems-to-Cut-up-to-6000-Jobs/ - Rich

Here are the new heads: Application Platform Software Executive Vice President Anil Gadre (was CMO) Systems Platforms Executive Vice President John Fowler (was CTO) Cloud Computing and Developer Platforms Senior Vice President Dave Douglas (was VP of Eco Responsibility) The only choice that makes sense to me is John Fowler. I don't know the man but it sounds like he is and has been a hardware guy - an area that I believe is Sun's strong point. The other two are questionable. Gadre was a CMO (!!) and now he's going to be the head of - well the way I read it, JavaFX first, identity and application servers second, Java last. This is really really bad. I can only hope that open source Java will lead to the innovation on all fronts. I doubt we can look to Sun for this anymore. I am also skeptical about the Cloud and Developer platform head. I think it's a wise choice for Cloud computing... but Developer platform? What does eco-computing have to do with Developer platforms? I feel for the Netbeans team... not only has Swing and Java in general taken a backseat to JavaFX but developer tools have been shoved with Cloud computing under a guy who knows about green computing. Well, my opinion doesn't matter. Let's see how the market reacts to it. It's all about perception so hopefully they concentrate on the new division of the company rather than the heads of each.

PS I think the elimination of 6000 jobs from Sun is a good thing. I feel for the people who will lose their jobs but for Sun as a company, the adjustment is long overdue. Hopefully large chunks of those jobs will be groups that can spin off as companies from Sun (like service and support groups) so that actual jobs aren't lost... but hey, it's not as if Sun is at risk of eliminating core talent... haven't they already left?

I am also skeptical about the Cloud and Developer platform head. I think it's a wise choice for Cloud computing... but Developer platform? What does eco-computing have to do with Developer platforms? I feel for the Netbeans team... not only has Swing and Java in general taken a backseat to JavaFX but developer tools have been shoved with Cloud computing under a guy who knows about green computing.

I think that was the cloud computing was the "left-overs division" - or does anybody know why cloud computing, development tools and StarOffice belong in the same group? Karsten

Sun's restructuring comes as the economic downturn is prompting deep job cuts across a range of industries, from technology to financial services to retail. U.S. jobless claims hit a 25-year high in September, according to recent government figures.

 

But many of Sun's problems preceded the current economic crisis. The company has been struggling since the Internet bubble burst and demand for its computers dried up.

 

Shares of the company are down 98 percent since 2000, the peak of the dot-com boom, and down around 77 percent this year. This year's decline is more than double the fall in the Nasdaq Composite Index .

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From my experience in a company that once had a major crisis and was forced into massive layoffs, I say it's better to do it in a single big stroke. The alternative - smaller periodic layoffs every quarter, for a unknown period of time - is a disaster for morale.

Rich Green leaving Sun is not big news at all, nor does it mean *anything* for Java. He left Sun before in 2004/2005 to go join Cassat. It means nothing for Java.

Agree, Rich Green Does not mean nothing for Java.

Yes, but it leaves one question open : Who will lead the JavaOne next year ?

Some folks are asking, why NetBeans under cloud computing? I was scratching my head for a while there too, but I think I might have an idea. I think the opportunity here is to provide an excellent development environment for a cloud platform. This would distinguish the offering from say Amazon, which is targeted more to sysadmins deploying an application, or Google, which is targeted solely to Python/BigTable app environment.

I think with OpenJDK whatever happens to Sun will not have much impact on Java, as Rick said, Java is more than Sun - it has a vibrant community, both commercial and open source, has a massive installed base and is the de facto standard for serverside/middleware software in the enterprise. No doubt Java has flourished under the stewardship of Sun, but to be honest most of the innovation and improvement has been driven from the Open Source community for some years now, with the best of those innovations being eventually rolled into one Java standard or another.

I hope sun re-structures well and comes back with a bang. I think its all a bad management. Many companies recovered after dotCom bust, why didnt Sun? We can pass a lot of comments on their hardware, software strategy. It doesnt matter. :) They have great brain power especially the r & d area, but need more focused leadership and better sales/marketing strategy. i hope they do well soon. And i hope people who lost jobs find somehting soon. its not a good time to loose a job.

If this affect Java, this is the mistake of the Java community not Sun. Java is 100% Open Source and we should not worry at all, We have also the JCP, If some Sun engineers ware doing some projects development, another team or people can take over the projects and continue. IMHO I Don't see a problem now related with Java and Sun. Java is Free/Freedom as Python, Ruby, PHP etc.

Java is safe but This could mean the end of the JavaFX hype. I feel sorry for the people that put the effort in this project but it was a fail since the beginning. Long live JavaFX.