Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Product Manager: “Screw Sun, cross-platform will never work. Let's move on and steal the Java language.”

Summary: Microsoft speaks about "killing Sun's Java."

WE ARE STARTING to cover Java territories from the Comes vs Microsoft case, which Microsoft paid to settle, apparently with the condition that all this evidence will disappear. Today we offer the text version of Exhibit px_2768 (1997) [PDF], which shows Microsoft's treatment of cross-platform, Java, and competition in general. The full exhibit can be seen at the bottom (or the original PDF), but to give some pointers and highlights, see the following message from Prashant Sridharan, Microsoft's Visual J++ Product Manager:



If we, as a company, are interested in promoting Windows, why bother with AFC? In my own opinion (apart from Ironwood, J/Direct, or any of the other politically-charged topics now), we are horribly inconsistent in this regard.

Screw Sun, cross-platform will never work. Let's move on and steal the Java language.

That said, have we ever taken a look at how long it would take Microsoft to build a cross-platform Java that did work? Naturally, we would never do it, but it would give us some idea of how much time we have to work with in killing Sun's Java.


For readers' convenience, the context too is displayed in the full exhibit. This fits our analysis that Microsoft et al (and now Novell [1, 2, 3]) are essentially fighting against Java with their .NET infatuation (or Visual J++ prior to that). This is done unethically in Microsoft's case. It it also important to remind people how Microsoft really feels about Java now that Microsoft is invading Java conferences, pretending nothing negative was ever intended by Microsoft.




Appendix: Comes vs. Microsoft - exhibit px_2768, as text








PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT 2768 Comes v. Microsoft

From: Russ Arun Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 1997 6:13 PM To: Prashant Sridharan Subject: RE: More Questions about ADO in java...

Cross platform is a red herring that is not worth spending time on. Based all the numbers we see it is interestingly more irrelevant now than it was 5 years ago when I joined MS.

However we need to coopt the best lessons from Java into Windows.

-------- From: Prashant Sridharan Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 1997 6:07 PM To: Russ Arun Subhect: RE: More Questions about ADO in java...

If we, as a company, are interested in promoting Windows, why bother with AFC? In my own opinion (apart from Ironwood, J/Direct, or any of the other politically-charged topics now), we are horribly inconsistent in this regard.

Screw Sun, cross-platform will never work. Let's move on and steal the Java language.

That said, have we ever taken a look at how long it would take Microsoft to build a cross-platform Java that did work? Naturally, we would never do it, but it would give us some idea of how much time we have to work with in killing Sun's Java.

Prashant Sridharan Visual J++ Product Manager preshant@microsoft.com (425) 703-4682 http://www.mediacity.com/-heath

-----Original Message-----

From: Russ Arun Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 1997 5:29 PM To: Preshant Sridharan Subhect: RE: More Questions about ADO in java...

It is in Sun's interest to be cross platform. NT is eating share fast. So they are scrambling to find something and Java is their best hope. But for Java they would be in trouble.

-------- From: Preshant Sridharan Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 1997 5:25 PM To: Russ Arun Subject: RE: More Questions about ADO in java...

Agreed on x-plat. Screw Sun.

Of course, you and I probably have some old Sun buddies that would think otherwise :-)

Prashant Sridharan Visual J++ Product Manager preshant@microsoft.com (425) 703-4682 http://www.mediacity.com/-heath

MSS 0097798 CONFIDENTIAL

ATTORNEYS ONLY




-----Original Message----- From: Russ Arun Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 1997 5:23 PM To: Prashant Sridharan Subhect: RE: More Questions about ADO in java...

Don't care about cross platform in future - pretense or otherwise. AFC is the closest to this at this point.

Yes - we are shipping the Microsoft JDBC-ODBC bridge that came from Intersolv and supports JDBC.

-------- From: Prashant Sridharan Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 1997 5:12 PM To: Russ Arun Subject: RE: More Questions about ADO in java...

Russ,

I am now joining in this thread, so forgive the silly question. Are we not shipping JDBC at all with the SDK 2.0?

Do we have any pretense of cross-platform left? ;-)

Prashant Sridharan Visual J++ Product Manager preshant@microsoft.com (425) 703-4682 http://www.mediacity.com/-heath

-----Original Message----- From: Russ Arun Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 1997 5:09 PM To: Java Discussion Alias: Craig Longman (Excell Data Corporation) Subject: RE: More Questions about ADO in java...

In theory having both JDBC (the deprecated one) and MSJDBC (the Microsoft JDBC-ODBC bridge) is OK, but you will have spurious classes that I would worry about you relying on.

JDBC can be rid off by deleting JDBC.zip and any other muck should clear itself as part of the VM install.

-------- From: Craig Longman (Excell Data Corporation) Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 1997 4:59 PM To: Java Discussion Alias Subject: RE: More Questions about ADO in java...

>in the words of 'Russ Arun' >* JDBC.zip is not being shipped - so you relying on it is not good

Ahh. I just looked over the docs again, and I must admit I failed to notice the 'ms' in front of the jdbc.exe file to run. After running that, I get the Intersolv stuff installed just great, and everything is running fine.

Now if I can just figure out why multiple result sets in a single statement are not working correctly...

Does anyone know where I can report bugs on the jdbc-odbc bridge?

> - You might want to uninstall your VM and install the latest VM or IE

ATTORNEYS ONLY


of us to look forward to, no doubt.

>* There are examples in the SDK that might help you

Aside from the SimpleSelect.java that was changed to use MSs new naming conventions before they had the Intersolv which has the same naming conventions and can now use the standard sample, I couldn't find anything in the samples that helped in any way what-so-ever.

Cheers, and thanks for the help.

CraigL->Thx():

MSS 0097800 CONFIDENTIAL

ATTORNEYS ONLY



Credit: wallclimber

Recent Techrights' Posts

What Puts the Brakes on GNU/Linux Adoption on Laptops and Desktops is Monopoly Control (or Monoculture) Over the Distros
Distros that adopt systemd are controlled by IBM and GAFAM
Layoffs in Twitter, Facebook, and Microsoft's LinkedIn
There are silent layoffs at Microsoft this month
We Don't Depend on Google and Don't Care for Google
We have our own site search and we don't depend on Google to bring visits/visitors to us
Facebook Layoffs Due to Enormous Debt, Nothing to Do With "Hey Hi" Slop
The lies about "hey hi" in relation to layoffs will only contribute to further public resentment towards: 1) the media and 2) all the slop.
 
Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 13 Out of 200: Abuse of Process to Make False Accusations of UKGDPR Violations
familiar barrister and same lawyers
Thrown Under the Microsoft Bus
Microsoft wants disposable contractors
Quitting IBM and "Rumors of an Upcoming RA [Mass Layoffs] in April 2026"
Blue layoffs or "RAs" were confirmed upfront by the CFO
GNU/Linux Distro Builders Barely Paid Enough to Pay Basic Bills, Chief of "Linux" Foundation (Not Even Using Linux!) Increases His Own Salary by Over 50% in 5 Years
Salaries or compensation correlate with the ability to exploit people, not to create things
The "Zero-Sum" Fallacy
Fallacies like "zero-sum" - especially in the context of foreign affairs including war - are utterly ruinous
A Happy Birthday to Richard Stallman
Richard Stallman will turn 73
Jürgen Habermas is Dead, But the Politicised, Inherently Corrupt, Corporatised Court for Patents That He Inspired Is Not
In the news throughout the weekend
Mountains of Abuses of Process by Brett Wilson LLP on Behalf of Americans and Sometimes at the Expense of British Taxpayers
a virtual "limited liability"
linuxteck.com FUD by LLM Slop, ubuntupit.com Passes the Slop Baton
Unless they get back to doing long-form authentic articles, as opposed to slop, no good will come out of it
Links 15/03/2026: New Shortages, Lynx Populations Depletion
Links for the day
Sruthi Chandran & Debian Diversity, Favoritism, Hidden Conflicts of Interest
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
software in the public domain
Reprinted with permission from Alex Oliva
Links 15/03/2026: Slop "Bubble Driving Interest in Chip Alternatives" and Wildlife Erosion Reported
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 14, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, March 14, 2026
Change of Address at the Hired Guns, Address Removed
Companies tend to alter their 'shell structure' in anticipation of major action
The Good IBM Managers Have Flown Away, All That's Left is the Book-Cooking Loyalists
IBM is just cheating the SEC and shareholders. This seems to be the only thing IBM's management is nowadays good at.
Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 12 Out of 200: Months Ahead of Serial Strangler From Microsoft Who Helped Double the Lawsuits (Funded by Third Parties) as 'Revenge' for Exposing Crimes
In 2024 I sat down and wrote about what had been done to me and to my wife
Crime Comes in Many Forms
apparently the SRA is OK with stranglers of women in America bullying the media in the UK
commandlinux.com, linuxteck.com, linuxiac.com, and linuxsecurity.com are Slopfarms With "Linux" in Their Domain Name
once readers realise they read slop they immediately lose interest
Links 14/03/2026: Adoption of Slop Has Killed BuzzFeed, Russia Sees "Economic Gain From Iran War"
Links for the day
Patriotism is Conditional, If It's Unconditional, Then It's Like a Cult
My love for Software Freedom is only as strong as my love for Freedom of the Press
Links 14/03/2026: Mass Layoffs at Facebook ('Meta') and Sweeping Layoffs at Twitter (xAI), Social Control Media and Slop Are Only Debt
Links for the day
Wrong Time, Wrong Place (Digg)
Kevin Rose and Alexis Ohanian can relaunch Digg.com, but we doubt it'll work "this time for real!"
Universities Became Bad Places for Work
What happened to academia?
Reporting New and Suppressed Information is What Journalism is All About
In the domain of Free software, there are very few sites out there that offer exclusive coverage on community affairs and there are many gagging/censorship attempts
The Limits of Speech and the Rationale of Limitations
it seems to be part of an international trend
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, March 13, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, March 13, 2026
Gemini Links 14/03/2026: Goodness, AD534 Multiplier Module, and Extroverts Online
Links for the day
Atlassian Corp: We're Doing Layoffs Because of "Hey Hi"; Wall Street: Atlassian Corp is Just a Failing Business
Don't ask "the media"
Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 11 Out of 200: Cannot Censor His Spouse, Accusations Are Repeated Today
He already has a history of threatening to sue gay people in America; he cannot take criticism too well
Price of Storage, Price of Energy... What Next?
EPO workers are going on strike because their salaries don't keep up with price increases and tech companies without connections in "the channel" face long delays, low availability, and high prices (no "bulk" purchases), which further solidifies monopolies.
Don't Forget Red Hat's RTO (Return-to-office) Layoffs
How many people still remember that Red Hat did the same thing?
Reminder: Microsoft silent Layoffs by RTO (Commute Time and Lack of Comfort/Work Satisfaction) Already in Effect This Year
It's difficult to measure how many employees have already "left on their own" due to the RTO policy
Founder of IBM Ventures Has Just Quit IBM
Some people leave IBM and many people 'leave' IBM
Signs of Impeding Mass Layoffs - Not Just Quiet Layoffs - at Microsoft
Beneath the surface there are waves of layoffs and even entire teams are let go
Career Science and Academia as Corporate Propaganda 'on Tap'
article about surveillance
Veteran GNU/Linux Journalist Jack Wallen Tries Geminispace and Likes It
It'll turn 7 some time soon
Scheduled Maintenance Tonight
There will be similar work early next week
"Alternative to Microsoft Office" Must Use Free/Open Standards/Formats for Real Sovereignty
It would make sense for the EU to invest in its own workers and its own software projects, more so now that there are hostile countries both to the east and to the west
IBM Has No Clue How to Integrate Companies Like Red Hat
IBM is failing to respect this company's culture
Fake Articles From Sites With "Linux" in Their Name/Domain Name
we can at least hope that linuxteck.com made a decision to quit slop
Links 13/03/2026: New US Weapons for Taiwan, Pakistan Air Strikes Hit Kabul
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/03/2026: Exhaustion and Smartphone Addiction
Links for the day
Friday the 13th & Debian Developers afraid to nominate in DPL elections
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 13/03/2026: Chatbot "Pentagon Contract" (Bailout) and Secret Service Ditches Slop Pusher
Links for the day
When Everybody Has a Right/Access to An Attorney/Lawyer (But Some Get Funding From Malicious American Corporations to Spend a Million Dollars on Many Lawyers and Several Barristers)
And send about 75 KG of legal papers to the residence of the "opponent"
European Qualifying Examination (EQE) Being Reduced to Pieces of Papers One Can Buy, Patent System Rapidly Losing Its Legitimacy
Welcome to the "new Europe"
Priorities in 2026
2026 is an interesting year
Willis Towers Watson (WTW) Producing More Propaganda for EPO "Cocaine Communication Managers"
The Local Staff Committee The Hague (LSCTH) has this new paper about Willis Towers Watson (WTW) and its annual EPO-sponsored propaganda, pretending all is well when things are clearly dire
Head of Microsoft Office and Microsoft 360 is Leaving Microsoft Amid Problems and Mass Layoffs
Microsoft is like a "legacy" company
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, March 12, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, March 12, 2026
Gemini Links 13/03/2026: "Someone to Take Over Antenna" and Random Seed/RNG
Links for the day