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I don't see how Sun's could have successfully navigated the Linux on commodity x86 onslaught without becoming a services company. Google and Facebook would have

I don't see how Sun's could have successfully navigated the Linux on commodity x86 onslaught without becoming a services company. Google and Facebook would have been huge Sun customers pre-dotcom-bust, before Linux/x86 got a solid foothold. Both server hardware and software got commoditized, leaving Sun no complement to monetize.

rbanffy 4y ago
> I don't see how Sun's could have successfully navigated the Linux on commodity x86 Sorry for necromancing your comment, but we only need to look at Apple - they make RISC-based Unix workstations today. For servers it's always been a game of either providing something others can't have (think IBM mainframes and POWER systems) or competing in price with razor-thin margins. When Sun started making x86 boxes, I knew it was game over.