Firecat in Exile

The Sun sweepstakes are done. Oracle has scooped up the IBM fumble, and now looks like a formidable opponent for, none other than IBM. Hearing from my Oracle friends, Larry Allison is psyched about getting Java, so we will probably see alot of movement on that front. I guess this effectively ends the debate about Java vs C# for the Financial Industry. All future Financial Institution wannabes will have to do Java. Period. What a twist of fate, when the SUN finally set, Java gets to realize it's full potential.

It will be interesting to see how many people will stay, and how many people will move on to Mountain View(wink wink). Because Sun was a company I always wanted to work for, but Oracle is not. Well, at least they get to stay in the Bay Area.

IBM will now probably scramble to make some accqusitions to make up for this embarassment. I'll put my stock in Linden Lab.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 1, 2009 - Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced today that it has agreed to acquire Opera Software ASA(NO: OPERA), the browser company for desktop and mobile devices, for $1.95 billion in a stock-for-stock transaction. Following the acquisition, Opera will operate independently to preserve its successful brand and passionate community.

The acquisition combines one of the fastest and most innovative browser with Google's expertise in on-line marketing and creating new models for generating revenue on the Internet. The combined companies will focus on providing a better, more comprehensive experience for users interested in browsing the Internet on any device, and will offer new opportunities for professional content owners to distribute their work to reach a vast new range of devices.

"The Opera team has built an exciting and powerful web browser that complements Google's mission to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful," said Eric Schmidt, Chief Executive Officer of Google. "Our companies share similar values; we both always put our users first and are committed to innovating to improve their experience. Together, we are natural partners to offer a compelling Internet experience to users, on any device."

"Our browser has played a vital role in changing the way that people surf the Internet, creating a new mobile Internet culture. By joining forces with Google, we can benefit from its global reach and technology leadership to deliver a more comprehensive browsing experience for our users and to create new opportunities for our partners," said Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO and Co-Founder of Opera. "I'm confident that with this partnership we'll have the flexibility and resources needed to pursue our goal of building the next-generation platform for browsing the Internet on any device worldwide."

When the acquisition is complete, Opera will retain its distinct brand identity, strengthening and complementing Google's own Chrome web browser and Android platform. Opera will continue to be based in Oslo, Norway, and all Opera employees will remain with the company. With Google's technology, advertiser relationships and global reach, Opera will continue to build on its success as one of the world's most popular browser for mobile devices.

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I thought that either IBM or RedHat would buy Sun, but I guess being bought by RedHat is too bitter a pill to swallow for Sun. If Sun had freed Java 7 years ago instead of 3 years ago, things might have been different. But still, Sun has made many contributions to Free Software which they will be fondly remembered for.

Funny Quote from TFA:

I wonder if they will buy Opera next.
Imagine Solaris, KDE, Openoffice, and Opera all rolled into a nice Free distro

Finnish students made Erwise, an early Browser for the Web, in a time before Netscape.

Microsoft has sued TomTom(a Dutch manufacturer of automotive navigation systems using Linux) with Software Patents. Right on the heels of Google's endorsement of Microsoft's Patent Portfolio, this is not good for the Software Industry. Not surprising, since Ballmer considers Linux to be a bigger threat bigger than Apple. Pure Evil.