No one's beating a drum for a Microsoft Java except Microsoft.
The whole notion of "partnering" with Microsoft to fracture Java (or do just about anything) reminds me of a parable about a scorpion and a turtle. (In our story, the scorpion is played by Microsoft and the turtle by Inprise.)
The scorpion, needing a ride across the river, asks the turtle if it can ride on the turtle's back. The turtle initially refuses, declaring, "You will just sting me and I'll be killed." The scorpion reasoned with the turtle, "If I did that, you'd sink and I'd drown." So the turtle relented. Half way across, the scorpion delivered a lethal sting to the turtle's neck. With its last breath, the turtle asked, "Knowing you'd drown, you stung me anyway. Why?" The scorpion replied, "Because that's what scorpions do."
Of course, Microsoft has been very financially successful in its predatory practices. However, 20 states, the feds, and I think we see a scorpion climbing on the back of the Internet and we just don't believe Microsoft's pleading that it won't sting its competitors (including Inprise) to death. After all, that's what scorpions do. |
