Open source blogger becomes CEO at Sun
The chicken is involved, but the pig is committed.
Sun Microsystems became fully committed to the open source business model yesterday by naming COO-blogger Jonathan Schwartz as its CEO, succeeding founder Scott McNealy.
On his own blog I have watched Schwartz' own thinking about open source evolve, from a dependence on contract language to a reliance on and faith in the process itself.
In his most recent blog entry, for instance, we have him sitting down with the President of Brazil, a leading advocate of open source, and praising the country's efforts in that direction. This, to me, was the most significant bit:
But the rollout of digital TV, and the internet itself, is threatened in Brazil by licensing authorities and patent holders, who are holding Brazil, and every other developing nation, hostage to royalty claims and licensing fees. Claiming that open source software isn't safe (it is, we indemnify our open source customers just like we did when our software was closed source), or that the foundation technologies will obligate Brazil to pay extraordinary royalties for each citizen or citizen access (not true, either).
Those threats are simple - patent holders (who have names very familiar in the IT world) and licensing authorities (sponsored by the same companies) are impeding the rollout of the network to developing nations. We were there to present an alternative, as we're doing across the world. Presenting those alternatives to drive progress, transparency, and ultimately demand for what we build.
It does not take much of a Kremlinologist to see what is happening.
It does not take much of a Kremlinologist to see what is happening.