Sun Microsystems' Next Linux Move 13 comments
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When Sun Microsystems (JAVA) acquired MySQL for $1 billion, it instantly gave Sun credibility in the open source market. But Sun isn't stopping there.
In recent weeks, Sun has quietly increased its bets on the fastest growing version of Linux in the market. And it isn't from Red Hat or Novell.
Rather, Sun is preparing to certify more of its servers for Canonical's Ubuntu Linux. The effort includes Sun's latest small and midsize business servers. In an interview with Reuters on April 2, Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth reinforced the growing relations between Sun and Ubuntu.
The timing couldn’t be better for Sun. Canonical is scheduled to ship the latest Ubuntu release — Hardy Heron — in late April. (Here's an early review of Hardy Heron.) It’s expected to include several major server enhancements.
Great. But Sun isn't stopping there. The hardware giant also plans to sponsor Ubuntu Live, a conference for Ubuntu users scheduled for this summer.
At that event, watch for Sun to potentially describe how its core open source assets -- the MySQL database and OpenOffice desktop productivity suite -- will evolve with Ubuntu.
Profits from open source may not be immediate. But Sun's open source assets -- and growing Ubuntu Linux efforts -- have finally put the company back on the agenda with software developers and corporate customers.
Disclosure: none
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This article has 13 comments:
I applaud Sun for supporting Ubuntu, but I think there will be room for both Ubuntu and Solaris for some time yet.
May 1,000 Ubuntu flowers bloom.
Sure it is disappointing to see the stock where it is, but I'm glad to see that they are more interested in taking care of the product -- not the stock price. I think Sun will come around again in both, but that is some time in the future. Give them about 5 years.
stock splits/reverse stock splits have about 0% effect on the company value. too many amateurs like yourself go around thinking that a "cheap" stock price would make everyone jump on the wagon.
"like me, who could only afford to buy a stock that was under $10", so you only got $10 ++ to spend per share? this silly argumentation is wrong, what ever you hare spending in total $, will give you the same part of the company no matter how many stocks that will get you.
Regards,
Sudheer - sudheer.net
Binary Vibes - binaryvibes.co.in
You can always join some kind of DRIP program (such as sharebuilder.com) and purchase fractional shares anyway, so your argument is rather moot when it comes to buying stocks.
If you knew anything about Sun's history -- it is obvious that you do not -- you would know their stock was seriously over-diluted with splits during the bubble years. A consolidation was long overdue. Furthermore, a stock price of below $10 was preventing large institutions from adding Sun to their portfolios, as many funds have a policy that prevents them from investing in stocks trading within a stone's throw of $0 per share. An arbitrary rule, to be sure, but a damaging one.
I'm sure you can understand how a company with approximately 3,534,000,000 cares very much whether large institutions are being prevented from purchasing a million shares or two, by something as silly as a stock price (which has been pointed out correctly, is simply window dressing).
On Apr 06 03:09 AM User 173574 wrote:
> Combining the best of both worlds; Ubuntu and Sun MicroSystems MySQL,
> that should rock the world of computing. I would see a lot of Windows
> users tempted to go for the switch.