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This is the best analysis I've seen of the suit. I agree that this is not primarily about money, given the uncertainty of an outcome. More than anything else

This is the best analysis I've seen of the suit. I agree that this is not primarily about money, given the uncertainty of an outcome. More than anything else though, this is Oracle proving they aren't going to play softball with infringement Sun's IP. The whole episode reminds me of Nixon and Kissinger's plan to make the Soviets think he was nuts: "Frustrated, Nixon decided to try something new: threaten the Soviet Union with a massive nuclear strike and make its leaders think he was crazy enough to go through with it. His hope was that the Soviets would be so frightened of events spinning out of control that they would strong-arm Hanoi, telling the North Vietnamese to start making concessions at the negotiating table or risk losing Soviet military support." http://www.wired.com/politics/security/magazine/16-03/ff_nuclearwar?currentPage=all#ixzz0wbWpMqUT http://www.wired.com/politics/security/magazine/16-03/ff_nuc... Larry doesn't care about openness or community -- he holds them in contempt. What he cares about is winning. And this was his way to prove it.

sogrady 16y ago
"Larry doesn't care about openness or community -- he holds them in contempt. What he cares about is winning. And this was his way to prove it." That's a better way of putting it than anything I came up with. To give credit where credit is due, his approach has produced for the firm. And his disdain for communities like Linux (e.g. Oracle's Linux distribution) and OpenSolaris (e.g. the leaked memo) has not cost the firm much on the public markets thus far. But the same was once true of Microsoft, and now they have felt compelled to attempt a difficult, long term rehab of their public image. Which makes one wonder whether a similar effort from Oracle is not an If, but rather a When.
- andrewljohnson 16y ago
  Oracle does not sell consumer software, so the image issue is mostly irrelevant.
  - sogrady 16y ago
    Respectfully disagree. Reputation and image are important if yours is poor amongst a community that influences buying decisions. Traditionally, this hasn't really been the case with Oracle, as their products are still adopted up the food chain from most developers who might be expected to have a poor image of Oracle. The question is how long this remains the case, and what impact a poor image will have on hiring, partnership, investment in the Java ecosystem, and so on.
aristus 16y ago
Ah, but did that strategy work?
- sogrady 16y ago
  The results are mixed. But their execution must be separated from the need that prompted it.

sogrady 16y ago

"Larry doesn't care about openness or community -- he holds them in contempt. What he cares about is winning. And this was his way to prove it." That's a better way of putting it than anything I came up with. To give credit where credit is due, his approach has produced for the firm. And his disdain for communities like Linux (e.g. Oracle's Linux distribution) and OpenSolaris (e.g. the leaked memo) has not cost the firm much on the public markets thus far. But the same was once true of Microsoft, and now they have felt compelled to attempt a difficult, long term rehab of their public image. Which makes one wonder whether a similar effort from Oracle is not an If, but rather a When.

andrewljohnson 16y ago
Oracle does not sell consumer software, so the image issue is mostly irrelevant.
- sogrady 16y ago
  Respectfully disagree. Reputation and image are important if yours is poor amongst a community that influences buying decisions. Traditionally, this hasn't really been the case with Oracle, as their products are still adopted up the food chain from most developers who might be expected to have a poor image of Oracle. The question is how long this remains the case, and what impact a poor image will have on hiring, partnership, investment in the Java ecosystem, and so on.

aristus 16y ago

Ah, but did that strategy work?

sogrady 16y ago
The results are mixed. But their execution must be separated from the need that prompted it.