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Java technology is crippled by Sun's open-source paranoia  THIS WEEK InfoWorld Test Center editors and analysts chose the top 10 technologies with the most significant impact on business in the year 2000. I respect their choices and in many cases agree. But naming XML the most significant technology isn't one of them. I'm not arguing that XML hasn't had a big impact on business, but I don't think it should have been No. 1.
Now Java -- that's a technology. It's a language, and it's a platform. It's two technologies in one! The problem with the Java technology is that Sun has repeatedly fumbled in its strategic handling of Java as a platform. It's even now doing so in the open-source world. But Sun doesn't know how to embrace the open-source community, and as Linux quickly penetrates the server market, Java is hurting. I suspect a fierce internal struggle is happening at Sun in this regard, and it all starts with the problem of Solaris vs. Linux. How can a company so proud of its regal Solaris OS consider replacing it with something as uncouth as Linux? I'm certain companies such as Hewlett-Packard and SGI have the same inner conflicts. I bet Bruce Perens, who now works for HP, spends more time selling Linux to HP employees than to HP customers. In fact the only major company with its own Unix system that doesn't seem to have a problem adjusting to Linux is IBM. From a technical perspective, Solaris, Irix, and HP-UX are superior to Linux and the BSD family. Months ago you may have won the argument. But this item from a recent InfoWorld news story should serve as a warning to Sun: "In December, Telia, Scandinavia's largest telecommunications company and ISP, installed a Linux-based IBM G6 mainframe to replace 35 Sun-based servers used largely to run its billing system" (see "Linux looming," Jan. 22). So what can Sun do? I'll repeat my advice that Sun should license Java under the GNU GPL as a multiple licensing arrangement. More important, make a big public relations splash about how Sun will donate engineering resources to harmonize Linux threading with Java threads by contributing whatever is necessary to the Linux kernel source. Next, get Scott McNealy in front of a microphone to say, "Are you kidding? We at Sun love Linux. We adore it. We're using it on our Cobalt servers and it's doing a great job. Although Solaris serves our high-end customers better today, we're busy planning for the day when we can support Linux and Solaris side-by-side on our toughest hardware." Sun can be a hero to the open-source community or it can be a threat. So far Sun has taken a baby step with Open Office, but it needs to take drastic action if it wants to remain a big technology player in a decade or two. Return to Technology of the Year Nicholas Petreley is the founding editor of LinuxWorld ( www.linuxworld.com ). Reach him at nicholas@petreley.com.  RELATED SUBJECTS  Enterprise ApplicationsOperating SystemsSoftware DevelopmentDiscuss this article in our online forums MORE > SPONSORED WHITE PAPERS 
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