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SAN FRANCISCO—Defending Sun Microsystems honor regarding its stewardship and its ability to profit from Java, a leading Java developer said he has had enough of Wall Streets influence on the platform.
Rick Ross, founder and president of Cary, N.C.-based JavaLobby Inc., a grass-roots organization of Java developers with more than 100,000 members, said he is tired of Wall Streets influence on trends in technology, particularly when it comes to Java.
Ross said developers just want to support the platform. In fact, Suns financial health is a secondary thought, he said.
“I dont care about hearing what some Wall Street analyst wants to hear,” Ross said in an interview with eWEEK at the JavaOne Conference here. “If Wall Street wants to tell me how to work as a developer, they can learn how to program and do it themselves,” Ross said, adding that he has done several projects for Wall Street firms in his career.
Ross was responding to news regarding Sun Microsystems Inc.s financial situation and Sun CEO Scott McNealy having to reassure Java developers and Sun supporters at his keynote that Sun remains “solid.”
“A technology leader cant direct the platform on First Call guidance,” Ross said. “The right choices arent based on the quarterly expectations of analysts; theyre based on the stuff built around IT fundamentals. Java as an industry cant be measured by the rise and fall of Sun Microsystems stock.”
Sun posted a net loss of $760 million for its third fiscal quarter ended March 28, and a loss of $125 million for the previous quarter.
“If Sun mattered as much as they think they do to Java, Id be worried, but Im not because Sun is but one contributor,” Ross said.
“Java is super exciting,” he said. “The question of how does Sun monetize Java has [expletive] to do with whether or not developers are excited about the platform and what they can achieve with it.
“I think I speak for all developers when I say were sick of media telling us what analysts think. Whats important is for leaders of the Java platform to focus on knowledge and resource sharing that leads to technical excellence and greater satisfaction of end-users.”
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