Sun Microsystems slashes jobs in survival fight

[grondramb]

Damn... I'm not a big Sun customer but they play a really vital role providing alternative and choices.

http://news.wired.com/dynamic/stories/S/SUN_MICROSYSTEMS_LAYOFFS?SITE=WIRE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-11-14-08-15-12

Now Santa Clara, Calif.-based Sun plans to slash up to 6,000 jobs, or 18 percent of its global work force, as it scrambles to cut costs to offset a devastating slump in sales of its high-end servers. Sales of those machines fell 27 percent in the latest quarter as banks and other big customers went under or couldn't get loans to buy the servers.

"These are hard but necessary changes," Jonathan Schwartz, Sun's chief executive, said in an interview Friday as he disclosed the cuts. They sent Sun shares up 4 cents, or 1 percent, to close at $4.12.

It might not ultimately be enough, though, to preserve Sun as the company is currently structured if losses keep mounting, renewing speculation about a possible spinoff or sale. Fujitsu Ltd., Hewlett-Packard Co., IBM Corp. or Dell Inc. are all potential suitors.

Sigh...

[keirgrey]

Marc, are you all right through this round?

[Marc]

We'll see...

Their typical practice is to make this big announcement and then follow through with the layoffs 4-6 weeks later. They said that they'd be looking at notifying affected people during Q3 (January-March), so I expect I'll know more in January or so.

[Mysteryman]

We'll see...

Their typical practice is to make this big announcement and then follow through with the layoffs 4-6 weeks later. They said that they'd be looking at notifying affected people during Q3 (January-March), so I expect I'll know more in January or so.

I'm sending good vibes you way.

I saw your conferencing setup they gave you, that makes me think they like you. :)

[eddyj]

Keeping fingers crossed that this does not affect you, Marc.

[grondramb]

Sun to auction "branding space" in OpenOffice

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/236526/sun-to-auction-branding-space-in-openoffice.html

I would think this is a sign of how seriously Sun takes the situation - as this will undoubtedly annoy users and contributors.

[d-dub]

Sun to auction "branding space" in OpenOffice

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/236526/sun-to-auction-branding-space-in-openoffice.html

I would think this is a sign of how seriously Sun takes the situation - as this will undoubtedly annoy users and contributors.

Sun doesn't seem to have any qualms about annoying users and customers... witness their choice to put "Java" in the name of all of their products, even when they have nothing to do with Java :roll:

[Marc]

Sun doesn't seem to have any qualms about annoying users and customers... witness their choice to put "Java" in the name of all of their products, even when they have nothing to do with Java :roll:
Oh, like Sun Java System Messaging Server? ;)

[d-dub]

Sun doesn't seem to have any qualms about annoying users and customers... witness their choice to put "Java" in the name of all of their products, even when they have nothing to do with Java :roll:
Oh, like Sun Java System Messaging Server? ;)

BINGO! :D

[Marc]

Ah, yes, the product that once was the Sun Java Enterprise System Messaging Server, and before that the Sun ONE Messaging Server, and before that the iPlanet Messaging Server, and before that the Solstice Internet Mail Server, and both before and concurrent with that, PMDF (once known as the Pascal Memo Distribution Facility).

[TheIndependent]

I thought Sun would be gone by now, truthfully. Good thoughts go out to you Marc, hope you hang onto your job.

[Combat Medic]

I thought Sun would be gone by now, truthfully. Good thoughts go out to you Marc, hope you hang onto your job.

Sun fills a role that nobody else seems to really think about.

[grondramb]

I thought Sun would be gone by now, truthfully. Good thoughts go out to you Marc, hope you hang onto your job.

Sun fills a role that nobody else seems to really think about.

that's my take on it - just for Java and mainstreaming support of open source I want them to live, and also for Marc.

[Combat Medic]

I thought Sun would be gone by now, truthfully. Good thoughts go out to you Marc, hope you hang onto your job.

Sun fills a role that nobody else seems to really think about.

that's my take on it - just for Java and mainstreaming support of open source I want them to live, and also for Marc.

Java is fine, but I just think about their heavy duty servers being more of their critical niche. If I need something to have 100% uptime it will not run on Dell hardware.

[jgerry]

I've been working on Sun servers doing Oracle work for over a decade. They are my preferred choice for high-end systems. When I worked at Bellsouth & AT&T, almost all new critical work was being done on Sun.

When I left AT&T a year ago, IBM was being pushed pretty hard. Lots of calls to build my Oracle clusters on IBM, I don't know how that push is going now.

I had the privilege of working on some of the very biggest iron that Sun made. like the E10Ks. Fabulous stuff. They were ungodly expensive and very reliable, fast as hell, and nothing touches them when running 64+ CPUs.

I'm now seeing a lot more push towards smaller clustered setups, as they can start smaller and grow, without the huge initial capital outlays. Although Sun has made some nice inroads there with blade servers and stuff like the T1000s -- which I was using when I left AT&T and I liked a lot -- there's a ton of competition in those markets. It's going to be a tough game for Sun over the next 2 years. Perhaps virtualization technology will keep the bigger iron relevant, and I hope it does. But not everything virtualizes well -- Oracle is one of those things.

I wish Sun, and Marc, well. Good luck to you guys.