Sun's Schwartz Attacks GPL

jskelly writes "Sun Micro President Jonathan Schwartz attacked the GPL at the Open Source Business Conference in San Francisco yesterday.Other than the same old arguments (you can't make it proprietary later) he adds that it imposes on developing nations "a rather predatory obligation to disgorge all their IP back to the wealthiest nation in the world" -- but fails to mention that the converse is also true: the wealthiest nation in the world is similarly, under the GPL, forced to "disgorge all its IP back to the developing nations" as well. Duh!"

ahh..

[Anonymous Coward]

..i see your swartz is less open than mine..

Spaceballs?

[sterno]

Did anybody look at the headline for this and immediately think that Sun was being run by Dark Helmet?

"We're Sun"

[geomon]

And we are working *hard* to drive ourselves into obscurity.

Sun has lead the field for so many years that they really believe the crap they publish in the trade press.

It is sad to see a technology giant succumbing to what could qualify as a form of corporate Parkinson's disease.

Re:Poor baby.

[Shadow Wrought]

Does anyone see some light at the end of the tunnel for Sun?

Netcraft just confirmed it. It's a train.

Is this any surprise?

[AtariAmarok]

A titan in the world of proprietary sales-only code does not like the idea of competition from useful programs being "purchased" for free.

No worries.

[michael path]

Our Schwartz is bigger than the Sun's.

Re:Christ Schwartz has some balls

[AtariAmarok]

"But vendors like Sun and Microsoft want us to remain in the dark ages suckling on their poisoned teat when the world can now ween itself of that sour milk and move on to the glory of free beer."

I think you shot the gift horse in the mouth after you closed the barn door.

Oh, the irony!

[Anonymous Coward]

I find it really amusing that the QOTD at the bottom of screen was:

He missed an invaluable opportunity to hold his tongue. -- Andrew Lang

Re:Spaceballs?

[Tackhead]

MCNEALY: Yes. I am the keeper of a greater magic. A power known throughout the universe, known as....
ESR: Open Source?
MCNEALY: No. The Schwartz.
RMS: The Schwartz?
MCNEALY: Yes. The Schwartz. [He holds his Schwartz ring. His is different than the ring BILL GATES has.]
ESR: But, McNealy, what is this place? What is that you do here?
MCNEALY: Licensing.
ESR: Licensing? What's that? (Keep out of this, RMS!)
MCNEALY: Licensing. Come. I'll show. Walk this way. Take a look. We put the company's copyright on everything. Licensing. Licensing. Where the real money from the software is made. Sun-the-Server, Solaris-the Operating System, UltraSPARC-the Pizza box, Sun-the-dot-in-dot-com. (The analysts loved that one.) Last, but not least, Sun-the-Doll. Me!
[pulls on the string]
DOLL: "May the Schwartz be with you!"
MCNEALY: It ain't the Steve Ballmer Monkeyboy Dancebot, but it sells. May the Schwartz be with you!

Re:ahh..

[ramdac]

the swartz is bupkis. He probably found it in a cracker jack box.

I love Sun...

[TheLinuxWarrior]

Really I do...

But DAMMMIT!!! They have got to start keeping these people on mahogany row quiet.

That seems to be Sun's biggest problem at the moment. Allowing these people to just shoot from the hip in public.

It really turns a lot of people in the open source community away from what is actually a very open source friendly vendor.

Jonathan Schwartz ==

[Anonymous Coward]

Elmer FUD

Re:ahh..

[Lovesquid]

The ability to destroy a license is insignificant next to the power of the Schwartz.

Re:stupid CEO, don't like it? don't use it

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree totally, and I will say more. I believe a major cause of the lack of respect for Intellectual Property in the US (at least) are public libraries, and to a lesser extent public museums and parks. While these institutions are certainly legal under current law, what impression is one to gain from them? Why, none other than the idea that we all have the right to enjoy other peoples' property, any time we feel like it, for FREE! How can we allow children to be brought up with such an un-American belief? We need a call to action, and I propose that laws aren't enough. We must have a Constitutional Amendment, banning public libraries, public museums, and abolishing the national and state park systems, with the land to be sold for $1 an acre to companies equipped to develop that resource. There can be no genuine argument against this, as it is for the public good; just as the civic-minded citizens of Kansas (where I reside) have just enacted an amendment to the state constitution banning gay marriage, also for the public good. This decision is now being celebrated by church ministers across the state, also as it should be. I realize some readers of Slashdot are not Christians, but to those among you who do not follow the Lord and live in immorality I say only, make no mistake -- you are a tiny, tiny minority of the general population. To the rest of us I say, be vigilant! We may all sometimes feel an impulse toward tolerance or sharing, but we must be strong. These deviant urges are not part of the American Way, and worse, certainly not part of the Christian Life.

Re:ahh..

[Anonymous Coward]

who hates schwarts schwarts,
dun dun dun dun dun dun dun
we hate schwarts schwarts

Commercial software

[krappie]

Wow. If he thinks GPL software is unfair to developping nations and redirecting their resources to the wealthiest nations in the world, I wonder what he thinks about commercial software.