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Technology Stocks : All About Sun Microsystems -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Michael F. Donadio who wrote (24206)	12/7/1999 11:41:00 AM
From: JDN	Respond to of 64865

Dear Michael: Rudedog came here, as he indicated, as several people asked him privately questions. Rudedog is a valuable contributor on other threads and is quite knowledgeable. When he has something to say it is worth listening to even if you disagree. He said he did own the stock once and admitted he sold in error. Sometimes one can know TOO much and it becomes a hindrance rather then a help. When this market first began its tear years ago I hesitated because I thought the stocks were way over priced. Cost me dearly in lost potential profits. For a thread to be valuable it needs to have the best minds available. We dont always agree but thought provoking dialogue among several knowledgeable persons is INVALUABLE to us small investors who dont have the resources or the contacts to investigate into such detail ourselves. Be happy he is here. JDN

To: Michael F. Donadio who wrote (24206)	12/7/1999 11:45:00 AM
From: rudedog	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 64865

Michael - I was a SUNW shareholder for more than 9 years, and made out pretty well during that time. I missed the most recent run-up... what does that have to do with disinformation? JCJ seems pretty solid, Qwiksand is OK - Cheryl is off the wall and does not understand where SUNW is strong, where it is weak, where its competitors are in the market - you must be kidding with that one. I always try to learn - that's the main reason I take the time to post. Perhaps you should follow your own advice.

To: Michael F. Donadio who wrote (24206)	12/7/1999 6:08:00 PM
From: Michael F. Donadio	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 64865

Tuesday December 07 04:30 PM EST McNealy rings bell for Java Scot Petersen, ZDNet NEW YORK -- Scott McNealy needs your money. Not that his company, Sun Microsystems Inc. (Nasdaq:SUNW - news), is broke by any stretch; in fact, the computer and software giant's stock price is at an all-time high, the CEO said Tuesday afternoon at the opening keynote of the Java Business conference here. "But here I am, giving away more free stuff." McNealy, in an obvious dig at Microsoft Corp. and its high-priced Windows and Office packages, ticked off a laundry list of free products and services Sun now makes available, starting with the Java 2 Standard Edition runtimes and binaries, which will be free as of January, he announced. McNealy also gave away hundreds of copies of StarOffice 5.1 to keynote attendees, encouraging everyone to put it on as many machines as possible ("And we won't sue you") and reminding listeners that Solaris is free for non-commercial use. "I should have come out here in a Santa hat," he said. "With all that free stuff, we can't afford Super Bowl ads." Forget shrink-wrapped software What isn't free is Sun's array of devices to access the free software and services that are experiencing booming growth around the Net. McNealy briefly demonstrated SunRay machines and the use of JavaCards to authenticate online sessions. But the issue of money kept creeping into McNealy's talk. In a Q&A session following his keynote, he said that Sun is still seeking the best way to standardize Java -- and keep it free to all. "The only one spending money on Java is us," he said. "We are losing money on Java. Every year we lose even more." That isn't exactly true. Developers who put Java 2 Enterprise Edition into production software are charged a fee, said George Paolini, Sun's newly named vice president of Java Community Development. Nevertheless, McNealy's message was clear. Free software and services are ruling the Web now -- not standalone PCs running store-bought shrink-wrapped software. "I've yet to hear of a new shrink-wrap software startup," he said. "E-trade doesn't sell software, they provide it. E-mail is not software, it's a service, and the service is free. And did I mention that StarOffice is free?" Those services, he added, are not necessarily for people either. "We're all too focused and too worried about getting people connected," McNealy said, turning the discussion toward Sun's non-free product line. "The big thing is to get things connected to the Net, anything with a digital or electronic heartbeat. The message is: Don't focus on employees, start thinking about things that are part of the environment. That's going to be a money maker." See this story in context on ZDNet dailynews.yahoo.com Michael

To: Michael F. Donadio who wrote (24206)	12/7/1999 6:17:00 PM
From: Michael F. Donadio	Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 64865

Sun reverses plan for Java standard By Stephen Shankland Staff Writer, CNET News.com December 7, 1999, 2:10 p.m. PT Sun Microsystems abandoned an effort to make Java an industry standard today, flying in the face of IBM. Sun had hoped to turn Java over to a standards body called ECMA but announced today it's withdrawing from the effort. "I weighed the options and I've made a decision. I've decided we will not submit Java to ECMA," said Pat Sueltz, head of Sun's software division, in a keynote address today at the Java Business Expo in New York. Sun abandoned the ECMA process so the company can make sure all Java programs run on all Java environments, Sueltz said, implying that standardizing through ECMA could create a new version that worked differently from Sun's. Making Java an industry standard instead of just a de facto standard from Sun would give other companies a much stronger position in defining Java and determining the future direction of the software. IBM and Sun are at loggerheads over this standardization process, and IBM endorsed a proposal to consider going ahead without Sun's help. The move is a reversal not only for Sun, which initiated the arrangement with ECMA earlier this year, but also for Sueltz, who led IBM's Java effort until she moved to Sun more than two months ago. Sun initially tried to standardize Java through a subgroup of the International Standards Organization but backed out and started over with ECMA, formerly known as the European Computer Manufacturers Association. Sun proposed to ECMA a process that would have put the future of Java in the hands of the Sun-centric "Java community process," but ECMA stripped that language out and instead put itself in control. The change opened the way for Microsoft and others to try to exert more influence over the standard. Antagonism between Microsoft and Sun over Java is longstanding: In a high-profile lawsuit, Sun has accused Microsoft of trying to corrupt Java by making it run differently on Windows machines. Standardization is the process of defining exactly how a technology functions. This broadens the technology's appeal because it makes it easier to adopt. But Sun has struggled with how much control to give up to others and how much to retain. Sun invented Java as a method of writing software that would be able to run on any type of computer. This feat is accomplished by running the Java programs within a Java "runtime environment," special software that intercepts Java commands and translates them into terms the computer can understand. Java initially showed up as a way to download programs over the Internet to Web browsers. But since then, Sun has spread Java into servers and has begun trying to encourage its use in devices such as set-top boxes and cell phones. IBM believes all companies should have an equal say in Java and that Sun has too much control. "It's a disagreement we're having with Sun about this," said Rod Smith, vice president of Java at IBM, in an interview today. "It's been a foundation for us that we wanted to see Java standardized. We think ECMA looks like a good place to do this," Smith said. yahoo.cnet.com Michael