10.22.10
Posted in FUD, Java, Microsoft, Mono, Novell at 12:10 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: FUD against Java is on the rise (Microsoft partly accountable), Miguel de Icaza receives another role from Microsoft, and more Microsoft projects which are complementary to .NET are now dead
SEVERAL weeks ago we wrote about signs that .NET is suffering, not Java. There are some new Microsoft hires that throw FUD at Java and Microsoft boosters who work as journalists lend their pen to this Slog, too (we prefer not to give examples as they would feed the FUD). Frankly, however, Oracle has supplied a lot of ammunition to those who are trying to injure Java. It’s not deliberate and it’s why Oracle is making a strategic mistake.
“IronPython and IronRuby get kicked out into the cold by MSFT.”
–Jan WildeboerAnyway, this post is not so much about Java. It’s actually about IronRuby dying. We saw the writings on the wall back in August [1, 2, 3, 4] (also see recent posts about IronPython, such as this one) and now there is almost a funeral. Jan Wildeboer from Red Hat writes: “#IronPython and #IronRuby get kicked out into the cold by MSFT. #RIP? http://is.gd/gcCON thinks so, http://is.gd/gcCQn doesn’t. We’ll see ..”
The nymshifting CodePlex Foundation (this Microsoft front is now called Outercurve [1, 2]) has been used as somewhat of a basket for Microsoft in which to put projects ‘externally’ (it’s about impression and appearance, not practice). Microsoft's MVP Miguel de Icaza has been part of it and at sight of the situation with Java at Apple he already throws FUD at Java using the news, as well as other recent Java news. According to this Microsoft employee, de Icaza et al. are supposed to try and rescue IronRuby and IronPython for the sake of greater .NET relevance. This is another Microsoft job for Miguel:
Today signifies a big step in Microsoft’s commitment to open-source: Jason Zander announced new leadership for IronRuby and IronPython, namely Miguel de Icaza, Michael Foord, Jeff Hardy, and myself. Since Microsoft has officially put the project in our hands, both languages will be open to contributions from the community, not just the core team members. Also, any previously unreleased work as been released, include the IronRuby tools for Visual Studio and groundwork towards IronPython 2.7 and 1.9. You can find the appropriate releases on both IronRuby and IronPython’s CodePlex sites.
[...]
Also, Miguel is a big-shot at Novell, but I’ll let him comment on how his company is supporting the projects. =)
He is a big-shot to Microsoft. They groomed him (e.g. with interviews and other publicity like this recent example) so that he can help Microsoft from outside Microsoft. His job at Novell (it’s a team effort) is to promote Mono/.NET and apparently demote Java in the process (also with FUD in his blog and in Twitter).
“In Twitter, de Icaza speaks quite a lot with the mobbyists; like them, he pretends to be pro-FOSS whilst actually doing a lot of harm to software freedom.”Who is this man kidding? Just watch him blogging about Microsoft folks this week (Ozzie in this case [1, 2]). If he loves Microsoft so much, maybe it’s time to reapply for that job he wanted.
It would be so much more appropriate if he just worked directly for Microsoft. In Twitter, de Icaza speaks quite a lot with the mobbyists; like them, he pretends to be pro-FOSS whilst actually doing a lot of harm to software freedom.
Anyway, based on this post from Microsoft MVP Jeff Hardy, we are adding IronPython to our list of dead projects from Microsoft (if someone continues it outside Microsoft, then that’s not a Microsoft product, still). It symbolises the continued collapse of .NET, which also relates to Moonlight and other cancelled/failing parts of Microsoft’s stack.
Well, the shoe has finally dropped: IronPython and IronRuby have been axed.
In weeks to come we’ll be covering a lot more stories about Apple. Microsoft is just growing irrelevant like Novell. The upsurge of FUD, the lobbyists, and the mobbyists are just a symptom. █
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Posted in Apple, Java, Microsoft, Oracle at 1:18 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Apple is discontinuing Java in Mac OS X despite the inter-personal connection with Oracle
Oracle and Apple are unlikely to ever sue each other over patents because of the relationship between Jobs and Ellison [1, 2, 3]. It is hard to figure out why Apple seemingly phases out Java then, as claimed on a speculative basis in several places like this one: [via]
Scant months since beginning a public spat with Adobe over its decision not to support Flash on iOS devices, Apple now also appears ready to abandon Java in Mac OS X.
If true, what might Apple be trying to achieve? It’s not about patents, is it? To Apple, removal of Adobe Trash (at least temporarily, until antitrust scrutiny) was arguably a matter of control.
As people may already know, Apple benefits from Oracle’s lawsuit against Android/Google, which is a lawsuit over Java patents. The Economist has this new article titled “The great patent battle” and it’s about the many patent battles in the mobile arena:
Hardly a week passes without a new case. Motorola sued Apple this month, having itself been sued by Microsoft a few days earlier. Since 2006 the number of mobile-phone-related patent complaints has increased by 20% annually, according to Lex Machina, a firm that keeps a database of intellectual-property spats in America.
Most suits were filed by patent owners who hail from another industry, such as Kodak (a firm from a bygone era that now makes printers), or by patent trolls (firms that buy patents not in order to make products, but to sue others for allegedly infringing them). But in recent months the makers of handsets and related software themselves have become much more litigious, reports Joshua Walker, the boss of Lex Machina.
Could patents have anything at all with Apple’s treatment of Java (assuming those rumours bear substance)? That seems unlikely. Either way, Microsoft too has been attacking Java with FUD recently.
Postscript: at the time of publishing it turns out the speculations are true as Apple “threatens Java” by deprecating its release and Steve Jobs talks about it. █
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10.19.10
Posted in Apple, FUD, GNU/Linux, Java, Microsoft, Office Suites, OpenDocument, OpenOffice at 6:23 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.”
–(Usually attributed to) Mahatma Gandhi
Summary: The Microsoft camp is throwing FUD at OpenOffice.org, GNU/Linux and Java this month, just when the company crumbles at an increased pace; Apple too starts getting increasingly worried
THAT quote at the top sure has become a cliché, but it is worth repeating just to remind people what recent events may mean. First of all, Microsoft’s #2 man has just quit. Yes, Ozzie was supposed to be Microsoft's next superstar, but he fell on his sword, leaving just Ballmer to handle the disasters which are Bong [sic], Vista Phone 7 [sic], and AZune [sic] (Fog Computing). Nothing new from Microsoft seems to be profitable.
Anybody knows that when a person or animal feels threatened and cornered, he or she attacks. That’s what appears to be happening at Microsoft right now. Earlier this month there were those tactless OpenOffice.org videos (Microsoft got blowback and retreated), a short while ago we saw GNU/Linux FUD from Windows Vista Magazine's editor (as well as others who echoed his talking points), and Microsoft was recently seen hiring a FOSS guy who attacks Java in his blog (just weeks after being hired). Groklaw has already rebutted this voice. And now, having exaggerated the impact of Oracle’s lawsuit, our reader Patrick says that Microsoft goes further. “I love how Microsoft attacks Java popularity, real classy,” he wrote last night.
There has been an “unprecedented wave” of exploits against vulnerabilities in Oracle’s Java during the third quarter of this year, according to data from the Microsoft Malware Protection Center.
Let’s see now; FUD attacks from the Microsoft movement against OpenOffice.org, GNU/Linux, and now Java? What’s next? This whole strategy is highly misguided because Microsoft alienates existing customers. Many Microsoft customers also use OpenOffice.org, GNU/Linux, and especially Java.
The blowback carries on. There is the propaganda video against OpenOffice.org with a whole show focused on it and this new article which references Techrights:
Meanwhile, the Ars Technica Web site did some digging and found the quotes were actually from case studies and press articles from the last four years, most of which were hosted on Microsoft.com.
Writing in his Web site Techrights, Roy Schestowitz notes that one case study involving the Scotland police force, was a “success” story about a migration in 2006 to Windows XP, Microsoft Office, and Microsoft Windows Server 2003, products that are now ancient history. “Not really a good way to convince customers now,” he adds. But then again, the video doesn’t tell you this.
OStatic shrewdly refers to Bill Gates' and Steve Ballmer's attempt to extort the OpenOffice.org community using software patents:
If you’ve ever wondered whether Microsoft considers the OpenOffice suite of productivity applications to be competition, last week we took note of a new video from Microsoft showing customers criticizing the suite. It’s not the first time the company has targeted the open source suite. In this post from Sun Microsystems’ ex-CEO Jonathan Schwartz, he recounts the story of a visit with Microsoft’s then-CEO Bill Gates, where Gates displayed highly territorial behavior toward the OpenOffice suite. So does OpenOffice really represent a threat to Microsoft’s ubiquitous Office suite?
[...]
It may be a good thing to see Microsoft trash OpenOffice, but the day still isn’t here when a free, open source suite of productivity apps might acually topple Microsoft Office. For now, we should be thankful that there is at least competition.
The author links to this good post from Dana, whom we referenced yesterday. Dana says Microsoft’s attacks are good news; it’s basically the idea that if “then they attack you” it means that soon “you win”. Remember this: the worst thing is to be ignored. It’s even more insulting and degrading sometimes.
Eleven is Louder has meanwhile responded to the FUD piece from Windows Vista Magazine’s editor:
All in all, the article was bogus. People need to be weary of FUD like that. Too many credible news agencies are starting to churn out drivel like this PCW article.
Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols has to be polite because he too works for IDG, but he calmly responds and concludes:
In the new desktop, where applications and content are more often than not provided by Linux-based servers, Linux will do quite well whether your main interface will be on a laptop, desktop, smartphone, or a tablet. It’s Windows, not Linux, that has reason to fear this future.
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, who used to write negative things about desktop Linux (several GNU/Linux FUD pieces almost identical to the above from a Windows Vista Magazine editor), no longer seems to agree with all that FUD he used to spread himself:
Secondly, Linux isn’t as bad at media as Strohmeyer makes out. Playing DVDs on distros such as Ubuntu is a snap. Sure, there’s plenty of DRMed media that won’t work on Linux, but there’s also plenty of stuff that will.
In conclusion, the Microsoft movement is running out of material and its talking points have expired. Well, all that a company can do is attack the competition like Android was attacked by ACCESS trolling or lawsuits from Apple and Microsoft.
Speaking of Apple, Android is now being attacked directly by Jobs and a transcript gets served by Charles Arthur, courtesy of Seeking Alpha. Yes, Apple too is scared as it sees the writings on the wall. Fabian A. Scherschel says: “Awesome. Steve Jobs: The worldwide authority on openness. What a joke….”
Glyn Moody responds by saying, “first MS fretting about OpenOffice, now Jobs on Android…”
Yes, software freedom is winning. Just don’t expect the losers to accept it lying down. █
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09.24.10
Posted in Apple, GNU/Linux, Google, Hardware, Java, Microsoft, Oracle, Patents, Rumour, SUN at 5:30 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Jobs image licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License (version 1.2 or any later versions); Ellison patch By Thomas Hawk
Summary: Rumours and speculations that Oracle might prepare to buy ARM Holdings may arouse the suspicion that Android is Ellison’s target
OIN has added Mozilla as a licensee and pro-GNU/Linux bloggers keep talking about it. One person remarked:
I hope OIN is good for Mozilla, but what about Oracle? #swpats
The troubling thing is that despite Oracle and Google both being inside the OIN shield zone, Oracle decided to sue Google using software patents [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] and interestingly enough, as Groklaw points out, they are assigned the same judge as in the Apple vs. Psystar case.
Google has appeared in the Oracle v. Google litigation and they have extra time to file an answer to Oracle’s complaint. Meanwhile, they’ve added some more lawyers to the team and informed the court they decline to have the case handled by a magistrate judge, so it’s been assigned to the Hon. William Alsup. What are the odds? That’s the same judge who presided over the Apple v. Psystar case.
Previously we found rumours that Apple would buy ARM (reported less than a year ago in many news outlets) and also learned that Steve Jobs’ friendship with Larry Ellison might have something to do with the legal attack on Android [1, 2, 3] (Apple is also suing Android using software patents). Right now there is news suggesting that Oracle — not Apple — might buy ARM Holdings, which recently signed a deal with Microsoft.
ARM Holdings Plc, the U.K. designer of chips that power Apple Inc.’s iPhone, rose the most in two weeks in London trading after Oracle Corp. Chief Executive Officer Larry Ellison said his company may buy a chipmaker.
ARM rose as much as 6.8 percent to 417.5 pence, and traded up 6 percent to 414.4 pence as of 12:19 p.m., valuing the company at about 5.47 billion pounds ($8.6 billion).
“We primarily think this is about Ellison,” said Lee Simpson, an analyst at Jefferies Intl Ltd. in London, adding that the “Oracle speculation is unwarranted” and that the company would more likely target an enterprise-focused chipmaker such as Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
Has Oracle not gotten enough from Sun’s SPARC? Back when it was rumoured that Apple would buy ARM people said that it can be seen as an attack on Android. Could the strong friendship between Ellison and Jobs play a role here? As pointed out some hours ago, collusion of this kind if a lot more common than people dare to imagine. █
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09.21.10
Posted in Courtroom, GNU/Linux, Google, Java, Law, Microsoft, Mono, Patents at 11:16 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
“In United States, software mafia sues YOU!”
Summary: With broken patent law in the United States and in far east Asia, winners in the mobile space are determined in the courtroom rather than the market
OUR IRC regular gnufreex says that “it looks like Microsoft is down to patent trolling…
“They are dead in mobile game,” he explains. “They can only try to extort patents now… And they might set off OIN… So they could be blasted forever.”
Actually, the OIN has been pretty useless in that regard. It has done almost nothing at all to defend Linux against Microsoft’s ongoing extortion. The mobile space is where Microsoft can make a lot of money from Android phones because Microsoft itself cannot produce anything worthy.
“They [Microsoft] can only try to extort patents now…”
–gnufreex“Oh… They still own Nokia,” says gnufreex. “Sadly, they might pull down Nokia with them.” gnufreex refers to what we last wrote about yesterday on a couple of occasions. We’ll return to that later and for the time being just point out the coverage from AP, the Reuters headline which says “Analysis: Another Microsoft exec pushes escape key” (Reuters also has “Factbox: Key problems facing new Nokia CEO Elop”), and some other articles which can indicate that Nokia cannot join Android because Microsoft would not like it (Nokia has Symbian, which does not advance Linux). “Android, Symbian to Vie for Dominance as Microsoft Phone Series Flounders” says one article and another proposes “10 Things Nokia’s New CEO Must Do ASAP”. We consider this to be a candidate for entryism based on the statement from Steve Ballmer, but hopefully we are wrong. Surely enough, it can also be a negative to Microsoft. Murdoch’s press says that “Elop’s Exit Adds To Microsoft’s Mounting Challenges” (to a certain degree it does).
As we showed yesterday, even Microsoft partners are unwilling to touch Vista Phone 7 [sic] this year and the number of companies that distance themselves from this platform appears to be growing (now it includes Sprint Nextel too).
Microsoft increasingly turns to software patents as a way of making money in the mobile space. Microsoft keeps paying all sorts of patent trolls and agitators like Uniloc [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7] for their software patents and these companies, in turn, use this Microsoft money to sue loads of other companies. Here is Uniloc’s latest:
Uniloc has vigorously pursued legal action against some of the biggest technology companies in the world over unauthorized used of its patented technology since it sued Microsoft Corp. in 2003. That case was in Rhode Island; the more recent ones have been filed in federal court in Tyler, Tex.Uniloc won a $388 million judgement against Microsoft, but the judge threw out the verdict. At that time, Uniloc attorney Paul Hayes said, “This is a real David and Goliath case. Microsoft probably makes more profit in a day than Uniloc makes in sales in a year.”More recently, Uniloc sued Sony and McAfee.Other companies sued in the newest lawsuit include CA Inc.; National Instruments Corp.; Pervasive Software Inc.; Aladdin Knowledge, part of SafeNet Inc.; Pinnacle Systems, part of Avid Technology; Sonic Solutions Inc.
Some days ago we showed that Microsoft was verbally attacking Android using patent FUD. “It does infringe on a bunch of patents, and there’s a cost associated with that,” Microsoft’s Ellawala was quoted as saying. He then said “there’s a… cost associated with Android that doesn’t make it free.”
“This is exactly what I knew they’d say as soon as I read about Oracle’s lawsuit against Google,” Pamela Jones wrote in response to this in Groklaw. “Shame on Oracle for even inadvertently helping Microsoft FUD like this.”
Oracle’s lawsuit may also help .NET and Mono against Java. One blogger has just explained “how Oracle can easily be defeated in its patent offensive against Android”:
Interestingly, OIN appears to be rather stealthy and no longer publishes a list of protected technologies (other than mentioning linux) nor does it make public any strategy or commitment to protect anything. It might be doing this to prevent patent trolls finding loopholes or to prevent the organisation from wasting resources in unwinnable situations. Then again, it might just be an impotent organisation with no real teeth or one that only caters to protect the interests of its founding members and no one else.
Its amazing how much power OIN has (100+ patents) yet does very little to prevent the likes of Microsoft, Apple and Oracle from their anti-competitive and unethical actions which result in terrorising users of Open source with patents. The only success it has had was to purchase a set of anti-Linux patents that Microsoft would have sold to a bunch of trolls. Time to end the moral cowardice of OIN if you ask me…
Is it time for the OIN to finally shine? OpenBytes wrote about this too: (as a side note, the site is currently being trolled too much by pro-Microsoft trolls/AstroTurfers, who also abused other Web sites including Techrights under identical names)
Which comes as little surprise since over the life of this blog Ive commented on my experiences of Winmob with a MDA Mail. Lets also cast our minds back to the praise Kin received from some individuals and whilst most tech observers were predicting a flop (it was blatantly obvious in the case of Kin) we were called haters and accused of dishonesty. These claims were never retracted when the Kin was withdrawn having allegedly sold only 500 units. 500 units for a company like Microsoft? And we “haters” were right weren’t we?
As I mentioned in the comments section of the previous article (kindly prompted by a resident troll) Verizon is allegedly not jumping on board with Windows Mobile 7 at its launch. This must come as a blow to Microsoft, but then after the Kin experience who could blame Verizon if they have been put off getting involved in Microsoft’s latest “innovations”.
I strongly suggest you read the Registers article. Whilst Microsoft siding with Oracle may not be “news”, to me shows just how impossible it considers the task of competing with Android. Windows Mobile 7 will be touting great “sales” on launch day, just remember they are giving them away to their employee’s for free (apparently)…
Microsoft booster Robert Mullins has just cited Microsoft Florian and belittled Java’s future, as one ought to expect (his piece is further promoted by the pseudo-open source blog of IDG, in a new blog post which might show how much they love BSD because Microsoft too is based on some PostgreSQL codebase for its proprietary database).
While their comments were all obviously cleared by corporate, one of them, Stephen Chin, a director of software engineering, states: “This year at JavaOne is the seminal event of Oracle’s stewardship, which will drive the future of Java.”
“JavaOne 2010 is THE event that will make or break Java, the technology,” writes Rom Feria, a professor at the University of the Philippines. “I cannot wait to know what Oracle will do with this awesome technology—where will Java be on the desktop, enterprise and mobile in the next in the next year or two.”
The truth of the matter is that Java is still the dominant language and Oracle had arguably legitimate concerns here (not regarding Android at all).
To Microsoft, Oracle’s lawsuit against Google provides FUD against Linux and Java at the same time. To Microsoft it’s all about software patents at this stage (it reinvents itself as a parasite) and as further evidence of this consider Microsoft’s IP Ventures, which makes the news again in Ireland:
The company is based on technology provided by Microsoft under the Microsoft IP Ventures program in collaboration with Enterprise Ireland.
This program enabled InishTech to acquire and successfully build upon Microsoft’s IP in return for a providing Microsoft with a significant minority stake in InishTech.
Microsoft is trying to defeat GNU/Linux using absurd laws, not using products. The sooner everyone realise this, the sooner GNU/Linux blogs will place greater emphasis on subjects that truly affect the future success of Free software. As we argued some days ago, for software freedom the #1 barrier is software patents. A few days ago we explained this in great detail and earlier this month we showed that "the only remaining competition to mobile Linux is software patents" (this is one of the biggest growth areas at this moment). █
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09.18.10
Posted in FUD, GNU/Linux, Java, Microsoft, Mono, Novell, SLES/SLED, UNIX, VMware at 3:46 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Suggestion that the Microsoft-stuffed VMware may want to just chew Mono and neglect/spit out the rest of SUSE; more news from Oracle and SCO, which help not at all on the patent/copyright front
DUE TO the problems with Mono dangers becoming widespread knowledge, Mono has earned its deserved “perception issue”. Mono as a dependency in any piece of software is a deterrent, not a feature. No wonder a Mono booster posts another face-saving article (“Mono mythbusting”) right now, adding to Novell’s AstroTurfing in this site (from Novell IP addresses). They desperately try to shoot the messenger (including yours truly) and sell the illusion of .NET being the best thing since sliced bread.
Those former Microsoft executives who plan to buy SUSE [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7] (here is another article that we missed) are said to be interested in it because of Mono (maybe the older headline was “VMWare wants Novell for Mono, not Linux” because that’s how it appears in Tux Machines, which does not modify headlines although Google cache does not display it that way). From the new article which claims this we learn that:
The Wall Street Journal reports that VMware is going to buy SuSE Linux from Novell. What, exactly, that would leave Novell, I can’t really say. But I think I know exactly why VMware wants SuSE, and it’s got very little to do with actual Linux. It’s not about the Linux so much as it is about the Mono.
You see, VMware has Microsoft squarely in its sights. The current game plan for the company is to grab up frameworks and supporting infrastructure to allow VMware to squeeze platform players out of the equation. The biggest such platform is Windows. So, what do you do if you want your customers to cut out one of their vendors, while still allowing those companies to reap the benefits of having dozens of .NET applications? Why, you buy up an open source implementation of .NET.
If SUSE gets sold to a company not dominated by Microsoft influence, Mono will probably perish along with Moonlight (which helps Microsoft sell the dying Silver Lie [1, 2, 3, 4]). So maybe it’s a strategic move for Microsoft too. This type of acquisition lets people with a long career at Microsoft manage .NET from all fronts. Techrights correctly predicted this type of acquisition back in 2009 when Novell transitioned from a 4-part company into a dual-operation company.
“Techrights correctly predicted this type of acquisition back in 2009 when Novell transitioned from a 4-part company into a dual-operation company.”One has to remember that the source of the claim, SD Times, has quite a history promoting .NET and occasionally Mono as well (Microsoft is one of the magazine’s biggest advertisers). Now that Microsoft is said to try to capitalise on Java FUD (mostly Oracle-imposed) it can make all the difference in the world. Oracle is already trying to calm developer fears, as we noted briefly in earlier posts. The following remarks are being made about OpenJDK:
“Oracle will work with the OpenJDK code base and the OpenJDK community like Sun did,” blogged Henrik Stahl, senior director of product management for the Java Platform Group at Oracle. “We will continue to develop the JDK in the open under a GPL licence.
“We welcome the cooperation and contribution of any member of the community – individuals as well as organisations – who would like to be part of moving the most widely used software platform forward.”
With catchy words like “SCOracle” out and about, some people already paint Java as a risk/threat. SCO tried to do the same thing to Linux and right now it’s just giving up and selling everything that’s left in its possession (covered before):
SCO Group is again attempting to sell its assets. The company states in a press statement that the “asset sale will be free and clear of liens and encumbrances pursuant to Section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.” The company calls for a bid by close of business, October 5, 2010. The purchase price for the UNIX software assets will be determined in connection with the auction sale.
Groklaw suspects there might be a connection between Oracle’s action and Apple [1, 2, 3]. It also suspects that SUSE’s sale might be related to the sale of SCO’s assets. “My question is,” wrote Pamela Jones, “might the timing of all this be connected with the rumored sale of Novell? Not to be cynical, but with SCO, I always assume there will be vultures.” █
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08.30.10
Posted in Google, Java, Oracle, Patents at 6:58 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Oracle is promoting Apple’s products and Mister Java himself creates t-shirt designs to protest against Ellison’s decision to sue Google with his own patents
WHEN Oracle announced that it was suing Google over Android we immediately (on the first day) pointed out that Ellison and Jobs are close friends [1, 2], which may give motivation for Oracle to sue and thus help hypePhone. Other people pointed this out later on and now there’s evidence showing that Oracle is actively promoting Apple products:
Create an Oracle online account today and we’ll give you a Free $10 iTunes Gift Card or Iron Man 2 Poster
Dear Brandon,
A lot of great things will be coming from the combination of Oracle and Sun and you’ll want to stay informed! Keep up to date by creating an Oracle online account today and receive a free iTunes gift card or Iron Man 2 poster if you’re one of the first 12,000 to respond.
Simply follow the link below and tell us a little more about yourself. You can opt-in to receive news and information about products and events from Oracle, and if you’re one of the first 12,000 to reply you’ll receive a free gift card or Iron Man 2 poster.
Real classy, Larry. For those who don’t know, Larry Ellison appears in the film Iron Man 2. He is a real charlatan. Meanwhile we get to realise that Google gets proactively expelled (it withdrew for obvious reasons) from Oracle’s Java events. We put citations in daily links. There are alternatives planned though and Java’s founder has a stunt coming:
-
Media company Software & Support Media (S&S) plans to offer a U.S.-based version of its JAX (Java Apache XML) conference, which the company has been conducting in Germany for several years.
“A lot of the Java community has been a little upset about how the JavaOne conference is being [run] by Oracle,” said a source familiar with S&S plans.
-
I whipped up a couple of t-shirt designs on the topic of Oracle’s commitment to releasing Java. If you’re attending JavaOne or OpenWorld, I’d appreciate it if you’d wear one, just to let Larry know that you care. Or if you just happen to be wandering the neighborhood (I know that there are lots of Java hackers who work within just a few blocks of Moscone).
-
James clearly points out the fact that JavaME fragmentation was a substantial hurdle for developers, and believes that in a lesser way this may be true for Android as well. While it is true that fragmentation was a problem for Java on mobile, this was a common aspect of mobile development at the time (go ask a Windows Mobile developer about fragmentation. And see a grown man cry, as the song says). The problem of JavaME was not fragmentation, but lack of movement – the basic toolkits, the UI components, most of the libraries for one reason or the other remained largely unchanged apart a few bug fixes. JavaFX should have been promoted much, much earlier, and would have had a great impact on software development, like (I believe) the more recent Qt releases from Nokia and their idea of declarative user interfaces.
If we compare with the rest of Java, we see a much stronger push towards adding libraries, components, functionalities: all things that made Java one of the best choices for software developers in the enterprise space, because the developers can trust Sun to update and extend their platform, making their job easier and faster. It was the same approach that made Microsoft the king of software: create lots of tools and libraries for developers, sometimes even trying to push more than one approach at a time to see what sticks (like Fahrenheit) , or trying very experimental and skunkworks approach, that later are turned into more mature projects (like WinG). JavaEE and JavaSE followed the same model, with a consistent stream of additions and updates that created a confidence in developers – and, despite all the naysayers, for enterprise software Java was portable with very little effort, even for very large applications.
Steve Lohr over at the New York Times continues to watch this case, which is only a few weeks old [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. █
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08.24.10
Posted in Google, Java, Microsoft, Oracle, Patents, SUN at 3:15 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Google’s greed for patents may harm its Java/Dalvik/Linux cause and questions ought to be asked about unwise hires that seemingly subverted Google’s policy
GOOGLE was once a fine company created by software developers/scientists, but about 3 years ago we showed a video where Google hires are seen who are lawyers that loves software patents and insist on having them. This is sad. We have already posted a little memo to Google regarding software patents, but unless masses of people do something similar, Google (the ‘God’ of the Internet) will continue to ignore such pleas.
Oracle’s patent attack on Google/Dalvik [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12] ought to have taught Google that the world would be a better place if it was without software patents. Why can Google not do more to end software patents? At the moment, Google reinforces patents using its USPTO search facility with improved features which are added over time. There are even patents on providing access to patents and there is a patent on patent trolling, too. Are tools like this one infringing on Google’s patents? Are patent trolls infringing on IBM’s patent? “Google Patents Indexing, Retrieval of Blogs,” says this item of news.
This week, Google Inc. was assigned a patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office USPTO for the invention of a system and method for indexing and retrieval of blogs.
You can find details of this new patent 7765209 in IP.com’s Intellectual Property Library, which includes detailed information for this patent, first applied for in 2005 and granted in 2010 for what appears to be the core patent for Google’s system and method of indexing blogs, which are now included in the results of a Google search.
Has Google lost its head? There are other new patents from Google. Why are patent lawyers running this company now? And how can Google appeal for sympathy when it falls under patent attacks (the same goes for net neutrality)? To Google’s credit, so far it has used patents only defensively, but these policies don’t last forever. Microsoft and Apple are both patent predators and Sun’s patents, for example, became offensive when put in the hands of another company. “Clearly, Oracle is a strong believer in software patents. And if they can use patents as a lever for revenue generation, they will,” said RedMonk analyst Michael Cote to IDG. With Microsoft as a major barrier and Oracle as a true obstacle, Google’s smarter strategy ahead would be elimination of software patents. Here is a new article of interest:
If that weren’t about to become a sticky political wicket for the company, it also faces growing antitrust, privacy and patent scrutiny, fanned by a growing phalanx of Beltway opponents, the latest being Larry Ellison and Oracle. “There’s a set of people who are intrinsic oppositionists to everything Google does,” Mr. Schmidt acknowledges resignedly. “The first opponent will be Microsoft.”
Mr. Schmidt is familiar with the game—as chief technology officer of Sun Microsystems in the 1990s, he was a chief fomenter of the antitrust assault on Bill Gates & Co. Now that the tables are turned, he says, Google will persevere and prevail by doing what he says Microsoft failed to do—make sure its every move is “good for consumers” and “fair” to competitors.
We have a lot of the documents from this trial in Comes vs Microsoft. We also know that Microsoft threatened Sun with software patents. Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer did it personally like Joe Pesci and Al Pacino playing mafia. █
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