Monday, March 23, 2009

Is this the final Eclipse, or will Sun be fine in a Big Blue sky?

The recent rumors about IBM purchasing Sun present some interesting considerations.  The biggest question is whether IBM is interested in the hardware assets, software assets, or both?

The most obvious question is about the future of Java - with IBM in control, would Java become more or less open? What would become of the JCP? IBM would likely want the ability to exert influence over its new baby, so there could be big changes in store...

Being a Java developer, some the other overlaps between IBM/Sun products give me cause for concern:
  • Servers - WebSphere is well established, what would happen to the less than successful server initiatives from Sun (Glassfish, etc.).  Would they continue to receive any support from IBM?
  • Tools - Which IDE will win? NetBeans or Eclipse? 
  • Databases - MySQL or DB2? Yet another conflict here (perhaps less of an issue, given the target markets).
  • Operating Systems - Solaris or AIX?
I guess we'll have to wait and see if anything comes of this, or if the rumors go away as quickly as they started.  For some reason, I doubt the latter.....

No comments:

Post a Comment