[LUNI] Sun to Begin Close Sourcing MySQL

[Trev Peterson]

To be honest I'm not sure there isn't some reason for that.  The MySQL
acquisition seems like a typical case of that.

I think IBM gets a good rep because:
1. They contribute a lot to community and other projects they don't
control (Linux Kernel, OpenOffice, etc.)
2. They are a vocal advocate of FLOSS (many press releases and news with
them promoting FLOSS).
3. They were a relatively early adopter of FLOSS (this gave them a fair
amount of initial FLOSS Karma).

I think the major Sun perception problems stem from:
1. Sun SEEMS to be a control freak.
Sun contributes a lot to Sun projects OpenOffice, Java, etc.  Most of
which they offer their own direct competition to it (StarOffice, Java w/
extra classes, etc).  Sun also seems somewhat draconian in their
leadership on many of these projects.
2. Either Sun does not care about their image in the OSS community
and/or they are socially inept (in an OSS way).
Does it take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you buy one of the
most widely deployed FLOSS Databases and THEN close part of it you will
lose face and standing with the FLOSS community.  Couldn't you have
MySQL AB close parts just BEFORE acquisition?  Couldn't you start to
open Java BEFORE you make OpenOffice heavily dependent on it.  Why not
contribute the technology in OpenSolaris to Linux rather than trying to
create a competing distribution?  Either Sun does not care or the people
(who should know something about FLOSS communities) are inept at judging
the effects.
3. Sun is not vocal about FLOSS.  Most news releases push their
proprietary alternatives.
4. Sun was a late adopter of FLOSS.  IBM, HP, DELL offered Linux
pre-loaded on their systems well before Sun.  Sun also bad-mouthed Linux
a fair amount before they started offering it.  I also think they took
an additional level of "bad FLOSS Karma" because most people using Unix
at the time preceived Sun as one of Linux's best potential allies and
one that could have moved FLOSS along much faster.

I should say I do not hold most of this against Sun.  For #1 above I see
contribution as contribution and appreciate theirs.  For #3 above I
understand they have proprietary alternatives that generates much of
their revenue.  For #4 this is the dynamics of Linux eating most of the
Sun market at that time although if they had a crystal ball they could
have been one of the strongest Linux companies out there.  #3, however,
is a different matter.  They really should get their act together if
they want to be successful in the FLOSS world.  Most of the negative
fall-out they get is obvious to anyone who has interacted with the FLOSS
world more than a month.  The fact that the negative PR happens the way
it does screams either incompetence or indifference neither of which are
well received by the community.

On Thu, 2008-04-17 at 12:08 -0500, Eric MacAdie wrote:
> I have often thought that there is a double standard in open source. 
> When IBM open sources some software, people commend them. When Sun does 
> it, people question their motives.
> 
> Eric MacAdie

-- 
Trev Peterson
Advanced Reality
Email: trev at advanced-reality.com
Phone: +1 847 406 9018