"Java on Linux is more powerful than Java on UNIX by itself"

"Prior to Linux I had to think about two platforms: Windows for the client side, UNIX for the server side. Both have tried to 'cross over' to the other side but neither has really been successful. Linux is a combination of both: a UNIX operating system with the complete functionality that Windows has (GUI interface perspective). So Java on Linux is more powerful than Java on UNIX by itself, or Java on Windows by itself.

Java overcomes some disadvantages inherent in other languages because it provides unified libraries and an SDK. Java lets people develop UI applications with more ease and confidence than with packages based on C or C++. It makes an application product more sale-able because of the greater penetration. The Java platform mitigates risks that I see with open source because it separates application development from the underlying layer. There aren’t many Linux vendors providing tools and SDKs; they primarily provide distributions. The inventors of Java have really helped the Linux platform: there are a lot of IDEs and other tools available. So I believe that the survival and health of Linux is enhanced by Java platform."

Satya Koachina, at java.net, April 16, 2004

Windows and Office is Blinding MS While Sun Makes Gains

"[Microsoft's] vision is clouded by the unremitting success of its cash cows, Windows and the Office applications. Most effort is channelled through Longhorn, the codename for its next-generation Windows operation system. And it has earned a brace of nicknames: Longwait, for the time it will take the new software to debut (2006 at the earliest); and Logjam for this delay, which is holding back the development of other products.

Key customers are beginning to look elsewhere. The Chinese government will fit out one million personal computers with Sun's StarOffice and the Linux operating system rather than Microsoft. The tech-friendly Indian state of Haryana will use StarOffice as its standard in all state government offices. A German software distributor has sold more than a million copies of StarOffice. And closer to home, the National Health Service, the biggest employer in western Europe, is trialling Sun's offering as a replacement for Microsoft."

Faisal Islam, writing in Europe Intelligence Wire, April 19, 2004

McNealy & Schwartz Agree: "This Internet thing has legs!"

"I think [Sun Chairman and CEO Scott McNealy] and I are more convinced than ever that this Internet thing has legs, and that the number of companies that are going to be in a position to own their own operating system, own their own systems software, own their own financing capabilities and ultimately own the intellectual property that allows them to differentiate rather than commoditize is down to a very small number of companies.

... Shame on us if we can't take that passion of 32,000 people, $7.5 billion in cash and a hopefully more attractive channel relationship than any other vendor in the industry and figure out a way to deliver outstanding results to our stockholders."

Jonathan Schwartz, president and COO, Sun Microsystems, April 19, 2004
[in CRN.com interview]

"Have a little faith," says Gosling

"Java inventor James Gosling hasn't had many friendly words for Microsoft during the past decade, but what a difference a US$1.9 billion settlement makes. This week, Gosling (now a Sun Microsystems vice president and fellow) defended Sun's settlement with Microsoft and addressed concerns that the settlement document rarely mentioned the Java programming language.

'We didn't ... [sell] out the Java community,' Gosling said. 'We have not sold our soul to the Dark Side. We haven't overnight turned into mindless lap dogs. We've had a lot of experience with Microsoft over the years, and it has made us very cautious. We're not a bunch of moronic secret subversive Microsoft lapdogs. We've worked very hard over the years to fairly balance the needs of all the various communities. Relax. Have a little faith.' But the problem is that after years of Sun's pretense of pursuing a more open route with Java, trust in the company is at an all-time low. All we have right now is a little faith."

Paul Thurrott, April 19, 2004
[in Windows & .NET magazine]

• "Bubble? What Bubble?" Asks Gosling