InfoWorld: Sun tips Apple Hat
Phil sent me this InfoWorld article:
Is Sun working on a desktop partnership with Apple? The question surfaced during the media Q&A session and Schwartz looked to his execs for backup. "We don't comment on partnerships," responded Sun CTO of Software John Fowler.
Implicitly acknowledging the demo had that certain OS X-like sheen, Schwartz went on. "I don't think there is a Sun employee that doesn't love Apple. We would love to partner with Apple, they are everyone's favorite company. Stay tuned."
Verrrrryy interesting, grasshopper.
The press conference was actually demoing "Project Mad Hatter" -- a Sun bundle of Linux-based desktop apps (a little more info here and here -- post in comments if you find more).
I'm still looking for a server OSS stack. Wanted: shared calendaring and contacts on an OSS server that lets people use Windows/Outlook on the client side. There are a bunch that are close, but they mainly don't seem to scale down very well (OpenGroupware and Bynari are the leading contenders, FWIW).
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APSL 2.0 now FSF Certified
Apple's Public Source License version 2.0 has been certified as a Free Source license by the FSF, despite the fact that the FSF still insists that it is not GPL compatible. Hey, it's incompatible with the EGF License (something I just invented) but you don't see everyone rushing to my front door, paying attention to my license.
But, anyway, what it does show is that between APSL version 1.0 and now, Apple has stayed firm to its committment to support the Open Source community, and strive to give to the FS community as well. They've revised their license three or four times now, each time opening it up more and more. And eventually, they will likely advance it once more to get it GPL-certified, if it isn't just the FSF group holding back on certification due to other reasons.
But whatever the case, Apple will never simply convert it from the APSL name to the GPL, it will always be called the APSL as a reminder to all that it's Apple's contribution, free marketing and/or PR.
It's also huge validation, because in short order, Apple will be the largest distributor of Free Source software, and that software will be on the desks of millions of users. This will also pretty much unite the open source development on the Mac platform, and draw over even more hopefully.
The only question left - when is Apple going to cut its prices to represent that they are no longer funding OS development with a hardware premium? Likely never, because Apple will never have enough people supporting its OS development to get rid of that many software engineers off the payroll.
Rumors advance!
Yup, here come more rumored articles.
Though I think this likely isn't unexpected - McNealy hates Wintel, perhaps the culture does as well, and would rather support a "second party candidate" than even one of Intel or Microsoft, not to mention how much more enjoyable the Mac platform is for simple things.
Though, of course, it's highly unlikely every Sun employee has a Mac, this guy is probably only speaking of those he knows, a generalized statement.