On Thu, 4 May 2000, Brian C. Robinson wrote:
> This is a pretty biased statement. Microsoft was clearly
> in violation of the license agreement they had with Sun. Also,
> MS was trying to alter Java so that it woudl be usable only on
> Windows, thereby removing the entire point of Sun's project.
MS was trying to alter Java so that it would be usable,
period. As I recall, Sun refused to cooperate with MS --
withholding code, stalling, purposely giving them flawed code,
and generally giving them the runaround until they finally did
what they had to in order to release _anything_. The portions
that were only usable with Windows were to allow interoperability
for silly things like printing. The 100% Pure Java would still
work, and the parts that didn't were demonstatively Sun's own
fault.
Again, as I recall, this is a case in which a company
puts something out as open and then says "Oh, but you _you_. You
could be a threat!" The situation was created by Sun to thart
MS's chance at profiting from it, and in so doing probably
devivered at sound shot in their own feet. It is _again_ as I
recall, a perfect illustration of Faust's concern. What happens
if WotC decides that someone is a threat?
Later,
Ron
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