What INQ readers say about S*n

Le Roi Soleil mutates into Le Grand Wanker
What total bleeding assholes those folks are. Especially in light of some of the "competitive intelligence" bag jobs they've been able to pull off in the past. Back in February 1987, a certain Sun competitive marketing person (mayhap she of the rollerblades) sent a certain Boston-based Review of Digital publication (called, in fact, Digital Review) all the lurid details on DEC's imminent VAXstar (aka VAXstation 2000) entry-level VAX workstation launch.

Right down to internal transfer cost figures calculated to the pence. Extremely sensitive stuff.

The prudent thing to do would have been to shred the documents as they inched their way (remember, this was 1987) off the Fax machine. But no, the editor in chief happened to glimpse the purloined letters, and proceeded to twist the tiger's tail.

Sure enough, the content of said memoranda appeared on Page 1 of the next issue of Digital Review. DEC was thermonuclearly pissed off, and imposed a four-month-long editorial embargo on Digital Review for its high crimes and misdemeanours. It wasn't until December 1987 that DEC was apprised of the existence of a high-level security breach.

Name, email address supplied

Subsisting on a bowl of rice a day
I thought you eat PATATOS!

Sun fails to find coital success
I can't seem to find a relevant email address to send some vitriol Sun's way. Please supply an address you deem relevant so that I can tell them what weak pricks they are, that they are of doubtful legitimacy, and that I expect Sun's corporate legal team is currently experiencing difficulty achieving coital success.

regards
Craig Sunderland, email address supplied

Bad publicity, good publicity
Looks like your comments about the American lawyer last week must have pissed someone off! :-)

Don't roll over - let them take you to court. Imagine the free publicity for you (and the bad publicity for Sun)!

Email address, name supplied

Biggest Whiner in Techland
Interesting article about Sun. I've always thought, along with most of my colleagues, that Scott McNeally is the biggest whiner in techland. If he spent as much time fixing his company as he does whining about his "unfair" competitors and "critics," his company and shareholders would be a lot better off.

I'm sure he'll be whining about the golfers blocking his view of the ocean at Pebble Beach pretty soon.

Julio L. Guardado
Email address supplied

Is Sun a leaky boat?
Greetings, "Eva",

In reference to your article "Sun a leaky boat, confidential HP docs claim" at http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=6333 , I have few comments.

HP brags that their rackmount server running sendmail on HPUX can deliver 30 messages per second, and at a cost of "only" USD $6463 -- that's a little over ten thousand Canadian dollars. Why are they proud? Because it costs USD $16490 (about twenty-six thousand Canadian) for a Sun box that can deliver at two-thirds that rate.

Interesting. However, most Sun and HP customers would probably be interested to know that they could achieve 30 messages per second with qmail running on Linux on a five-year-old PC that they can pick up at a swap meet for two hundred dollars. Linux is Free (and free), qmail is free, and if they care to spend a thousand dollars on hardware they can easily /any/ HP system.

Oh, and as a bonus, there's never been a security hole in qmail, despite a cash reward offer from the author and another from an independent foundation. So the system administrator could spend his time doing more useful work instead of patching and upgrading sendmail every six months.

If the analogy is to hold, then it truthfully must be that HP is the leaky boat, about to break in two and let the seas in, and Sun is already resting quietly on the bottom.

Charles
Email address supplied

P.S. To what address should we be sending confidential Sun documents? :)

Sun gone crazy
I give Sun Microsystems at most one year, then they'll vanish! Either they go bankrupt or they become bought by RedHat (hehe, wild guess of course).

I can't believe all the stupid moves that Sun made the last years. Once i was a great supporter of Sun (and i own about 40 older Sun machines) but they have become more and more arrogant.

My curiosity about the future of Sun started some years ago when www.sunhelp.org published "confidential" rumours and some Sun lawyer tried to sue 'em. This barking lawyer was held back by billj (i believe) after a loud cry going through the community. But since then the situation has worsened a lot IMHO. The new incident with yours shows that too clearly.

I wish you best luck. Maybe it would be a good idea to go aggressively against these Sun lawyers. Perhaps it is possible to threaten them with their own weapons?!?

And i firmly believe in the old sentence: Never make someone angry who buys ink in bottles... today we'd better say: counts page impressions in units of 10^6 ;-)

Tschuess
Email address supplied

The good, the bad, the ugly
The Inquirer is one of the best news sites I read almost every day. I hope your collision with Sun doesn't affect your ability to write about the good, the bad and the ugly of IT biz.

Just my opinion about Sun case is that if they published a PDF file to their website for public viewing (even if it shouldnt have been published in the first place) the information contained within the document is public. No doubt about it. If someone publishes a "wrong article" on a newspaper it cant be confidential. :P

Sun is acting foolishly and I hope someone kicks their butt.

Panu R
Email address supplied

Litigation, schmitigation
The german computer magazine ct' is known to force some legal action from time to time (FTP-Explorer and von Grafenreuth).

Maybe this is one more: Sun droht britischer News-Site The Inquirer (look at: http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/as-20.11.02-000/)

They just sum up all the information in question but lack the PDF I guess.

Fight back!

Best regards
Ralf (Email address supplied)

What do you mean you'll never report on Sun again?
You can't go around saying you will never report on Sun again (well, actually, I don't care about them) as Intel et al will follow Sun's action until there is nothing on your web site!

Good luck in supporting yourselves though. I hope you succeed. Once posted - it's publicly available, especially now a service exists which caches web sites and logs them for posterity.

Mike
Email address supplied

Got sun-burned? Need a sun-blocker?
Hello Mike! Just read about your hot experience with exhalted mother sun. Dumped my McSundae and closed the book about the experiences of sunyassins from Osho's ashram in India *g*

Wrote them a mail stating my opinion about that mess. hth. Now i feel better :))

Best wishes from germany,

Lars

Sun - the INQ is too liberal
Being a conservative American, your site is most times too liberal for me. I like Microsoft and Intel and Linux and AMD. I see a real need for all of them.

But when a corporation like Sun starts telling you what you can and cannot write about, when that information was gotten from the public at large, then that hits me at home where it hurts. You may not have the 1st Amendment to the US Constitution, but I do. Maybe you could start having 'the inquirer' hosted on a US site and claim the same right I have.

My rant for what it is worth.

Greg
Email address supplied

I bought Sun shares
Mike

Sorry.

I bought 10 shares today of the aforementioned, so that I could have a few gentle words with the BOD.

Dumfux, all. Losers.

Please keep your friends advised of progress, I am steamed as I can be. How can I help? I'm not currently rich, but am vocal, and local (in the states). Your forum for discussion is a good one, I would miss losing it. Who could I write? The ROG never responds ...

Courage, friend.

Bill M, curmudgeon.

McNealy is Gnashers
Make sure yu refer to McNeely as Gnashers.

Email name and address supplied

Boycott Sun
Hi Mike,

You have my support, FWIW. Boycott the buggers, say I! (-:

cheers,

Bryan Betts
Email address supplied

Don't let Sun go down on you
Mike,

Don't let Sun go down on you! It sounds like it's just flexing corporate muscle. I'm not sure how the law works in these cases but it seems to me that if Sun was daft enough to publish a PDF it didn't want seen on the Web, it wouldn't matter if you had it or not - it went out there and so is fair game. The fact that you don't have it makes it even more silly.

Good luck in this case mate.

Chris Cain
Email address supplied

Stay the way you are
Dear Mike, just have sent a mail to SUN Microsystems, they shall respect free press and stop any legal action against you. After all you serve the hardware community pretty well, and such 'leaks' or whatever are 'essential to keep information exciting' (that I wrote). Maybe it helps, and if thousands will do it, even better.

Have my thanks as always, and please stay the way you are: GREAT. With my sincerest wishes,

your

roland Z
Munich/Germany, email address supplied

Fight it, Mike
Mike,

What's the problem. Why can't you just represent/defend yourself in court. Or is this illegal in the UK? Just state the plain facts and try to make a case to the judge (or magistrate as you guys call it) in a logical and orderly fashion. Don't worry too much about procedures as the judge will probably give you plenty of leeway.

Regards,

Olaf

Shooting yourself in the foot
Regarding this URL:

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=6313

The Inquirer is one of the world's most respected technology new sites, with a strong open source bias. They specialize in getting inside information from companies, and being the first to reveal news, rather than simply regurgitating press releases, like many other news organisations.

To threaten a powerful open source ally like "The Inquirer" is shooting yourself in the foot.

William Smith, email address supplied

Malaysia

Sun doesn't sue Sun Tan business
Just to answer this question:

* PS Why hasn't it sued our fab British tabloid The Sun yet, for daring to appropriate the name of the biggest and only star in our solar system? Don't bother replying ? we know the answer to that one. The Sun was there first.

It seems Sun never sued anyone for abusing the "Sun" label itself. Clear proof of this is the following true anecdote:

On the ground floor of the Sun office building in Basel/Switzerland there is a tanning salon, not affiliated with Sun but still called "Sun Light" as far as I remember. The door signs of Sun and Sun Light sit right next to each other there, no harm done as it seems.

Well, could be things have changed. I was in Basel only once, back in 1999, a glorious time when Sun still had an obvious mission, vision, and perspective for everyone to be tanned under the Light of The Sun. I don't know if that tanning salon still exists today. It'd be a pity if it didn't. If you ever make it to Basel, could you check ?

No sarcasm intended, of course. And keep my name out of anything, if you please. I'm not working for public relations, so I'm not entitled to speak as a Sun representative.

Move your servers to Afghanistan
Fuck'em

What if you move your host servers to ... lets say Afghanistan?

Keep up the good work.

Sven Email address supplied

Scott McNealy - there is no privacy
Mike

I am entirely in sympathy with you, as I think all serious journalists and their readers should be.

Btw, wasn't it a certain Scott McNealy who said in a public forum something along the lines of, "You have no privacy - get over it"? (With specific reference to the Internet).

Maybe you should call him as a defence witness, if intimidate comes to sue.

Best wishes

Tom W, email address supplied

The Paradigm Shift
Mike,

As Sun Microsystems continues to fall behind in the world, not picking up on the paradigm shift taking place (central theme = decentralization), it seems likely that they will kick and fight with lawyers in their struggle to survive.

This Web site appears interesting: http://www.boycottsun.com/

I wonder if these BoycottSun folks are getting sued too?

Greetings,

Dr. C
Email address supplied

Addresses, please
Can you post a link to sun's lawyers, their PR staff (UK and US), and the mail addresses for the above. I would like to give them a piece of my mind, and I think some of your readers would like to also. You have several thousand voices to use you know.

Charlie D
Email address supplied

Sun's Precious PDF
It does seem a bit beyond the rational that the Sun whozzits are so insistent that you have a copy of their precious (if uninteresting) PDF. I presume you will not be asked to submit copies of all PDFs not in your possession. [In several of these United States, you could probably collect expenses and damages in a "frivolous lawsuit" countersuit.]

On the other hand, it would hardly seem to be an onerous burden to be enjoined from printing that which you do not have, do not seek, and do not want - unless they have other, more ominous "details" in their injunction.

Taking down all Sun stories deserves a headline - The British severs 'Net on the Sun Empire.

John
Email address supplied

Microbrains at Sun Systems/Carpentry
The small little carpentry job at the neighbor's house has become a seemingly endless collection of tasks Chez "Rot and Termite Hell". The original job was to cut off and replace the bottom 2 feet of 4 panels of siding to remove what appeared to be water-damaged areas.

The job has grown to include replacing the siding on half the house, changing one small room from an exterior storage room to an interior storage room and replacing its walls, replacing drywall in the laundry room, removing a generally useless outside door and replacing it with finished wall, and replacing damaged areas in the walls in the kitchen. We have also replaced one exterior door and will shortly be replacing another. Every day has produced several unpleasant surprises which have added new tasks to be done before the known tasks can be done - for example, we've replaced about a dozen damaged studs (rot and/or termites) in the walls and have identified another dozen or so that we will replace when we get to them - including every stick in a section of wall which "theoretically" supports 6 rafters in a room with a cathedral ceiling. (Eek!) We have now replaced several hundred square feet of water-damaged insulation. There was a bit of excitement Saturday afternoon when we discovered a gas leak by starting a rather impressive fire in one wall - and spent a couple of hours curing the gas leak. This afternoon the wife at the house discovered that the shower control has now broken, and only provides cold water, adding a plumbing job to the task mix.

Unlike the PC world, the house and its upgrades are functioning fine with the original Windows - and we already have our Hammers.

j How in the world...
Mike,

How in the world can they stop you, a news company, from publishing news?

Just say sorry, no sources can be released. Email? Nope, Deleted!

Perhaps get the word out and get a free lawyer who wants the publicity and tell Sun to "take a hike."

Of course, I could be wrong, you could lose everything, and then I would feel bad. ..

Cheers,

frankii , email address supplied

Tell the world about Sun
I think this story should make its way out to a more PUBLIC forum. I think you should contact CNN.com and see if they would be interested in running it. I support you fully and the Inquirer and hope that free speech and the right to report about it in any medium still holds true.

You did not break any laws and therefore don't need to yield to the pressure of big business. I am furious that Sun is even trying to do this. They have an office in Calgary, Canada where I live. I am so pissed off that I think I am going to call them and vent my displeasure. I stand behind you fully... good luck and please continue to keep us posted. A daily reader from Canada, email address supplied

Don't show Sun your yella belly
You've hit the nail on proverbial head with your remarks about:

"our opinion is that Sun has fallen far behind its competitors, such as Intel, IBM, and even AMD on CPU capabilities, frequencies and the like."

And this is the real story that noone seems to be following through on (reporting...hint hint)...you've got fools in mega corps who throw money into the fire that is Sun to achieve performance and reliability that can be had elsewhere for pennies on the dollar in some cases.

It's sad to see that you guys are caving in so easily on this one...or so it appears anyway. Perhaps they've got your boys in a sling and your just not willing to let us know that you've perhaps crossed some line...but if I re-call the article to which you've pulled there didn't appear to be anything earth shattering in it.

It's a shame that your site seems to be focusing on the AMD/Intel wars with the odd 64-bit Itanic diatribe thrown in to boot...I'm personally more interested in hearing about the enterprise computing poop...I'm sure I'm a minority in your dedicated readership and you need to pander to your market.

Cheers and good luck finding your spine when you get more letters from the other "big boys" after they see how easily you shine your "yella belly".

Jamie Lucier
Emaill address supplied

Want some food stamps?
"Ain't that a bitch?" I said in my Texas drawl.

I guess over there you're mumbling about something taking the biscuit. Do yall get food stamps? If ya get really down on your luck I'll send you my "Dog Food Chili" recipe. Least you probably don't have to worry about a tornado blowing your trailer away.

Good Luck!

cmsix, email address furnished

Sun FUDDed up
Dear Mr. Magee - I wanted to applaud you for standing up to Sun and not revealing your sources. I've never liked the company's FUD (www.sun.com/realitycheck). You'd do your readers even more proud if you kept up the notice about their lawsuit on your web site for a long time.

Best wishes,

TNW, full name, address supplied

Sun no Einstein
Just wanted you to know I will support you always, the Inq will not get shut down, sometimes its the only reason I GET on the computer just to check for new stories, new info, great humor, etc. I have always loved your writing and I will do whatever it takes, influence as many people as I have to, to make sure your not shut down. Its BS if you ask me. its like saying "You have the formula E=MC^2 and therefore you're making an nuclear bomb. We don't care if you read about it from someone named Albert Einstein and its public to everyone. You have the formula." lol. Its BS. They think you are going to destruct the company over a PDF that was on their site open to anyone in the world?

I got to be wondering just what's so important in that PDF that wasn't reported on, the news Wasn't that interesting Mike, it wasn't like "Sun is working on Ultraspac 5 which runs 10 billion times faster than any other computer out there."

Give em hell I support ya.

Zach Gusky

Don't goad Sun too much
I have enjoyed your journalistic scribblings for nigh on ten years and would feel duty bound to donate a few quid should it be necessary to stop this type of corporate censorship (nay Nazism)- there's too much of this stuff going around at the moment.

I remember such similar crap with Maxwell & Private Eye; we donated etc even though R. Ingram's and co. lost the case and yet in the fullness of time were fully justified - I like to think I helped keep that journal of humour and truth going.

Having mentioned the above, that case (1984) was buggered by antiquated libel laws which favour the rich and powerful, as opposed to 2002 where the injunction laws appear to favour the rich and powerful (Cherie Booth et al)...

Free speech now,

Free beer later.

I hope it doesn't get to court, but if it does you have my support. (Just don't goad Sun too much),

Best Wishes,

Ben H, email address supplied

Nietsche Marketing
It is horrible that Sun is going to potentially take legal action. Maybe if you should start a save The INQ donation or something if it gets bad(or for you publishing company, somewhat the same though). Anyways, I wish the best. If it gets bad, and you are able to get through it, well your publishing company and The INQ will be stronger for it. As the saying goes by Nietzche, "What does not kill me only makes me stronger."

Matt Strobel

Orwellian nightmare comes true
Mike, What a story... I think Microsoft, Intel (and now Sun!) all think they are the Big Brother from the book 1984 by George Orwell... Amazing...

Best regards,

Gabriel

Get that sand out of your vagina
Hey there,

Long time no talk :) I just wanted to write to you and give you my support in your fight against Sun. Lets hope that they are just bored, since they aren't selling as much product these days. Some of those old employees have nothing better to do than to file lawsuits and try to be lawyers.

I'm sure you have millions of emails to read, so I'll keep this one short, but I sure hope you pull through this ok. I know you're a scrapper, and won't go down without a fight. I wish I could help you smack Sun around, but I'm just a lowly internet user who knows how to get things I'm not supposed to. ;)

As Eric Cartman (South Park) has said in episode 502:

We really have to get that sand out of your vagina, it's making you irritable.

You stick to your guns, and ill make sure I click on your banners everytime I visit (I guess its all I can do). If you need free beer tokens, just say the word.

Sir C, email address included

On Corporate Vendettas
Mike,

One of the interesting things about corporations is that certain groups within the organization will take their own initiative in a vainglorious attempt to look Pro Active as the Executioner's axe beckons near. If this is really a Corporate vendetta type of thing then it is even more interesting than at first blush..., if Sun Corporate is this ultra sensitive to their own blunders being made public then we are assured that Corporate is losing control and is blindly lashing out at perceived disrespects..., Watch Out! The Boys Under the Hood may be preparing their next drive buy revenge.

Sun acting like Tw*ts
Mike,

bowl of rice you say? Luxury.....

Actually, Sun are acting like twats & should therefore be spoken to as such.

While I must say, I do have more than a bowl of rice a day, I can not contribute to your war chests.

Don't let the bastards grind you down & keep up the good work!

Now, where was that mirror online, of the Star Office iso for Tux???? ;-)

H, email address supplied

Hey, it compiles! Ship it!
By doing that, Sun just proved that they are out of the game and that they have nothing better to do.

If the readers can support you in any way, let us know!

_______________________________ Francis Carpentier
Email address supplied

Just read InternalMemos.com
Are you aware of this site?

www.internalmemos.com

I found the whole concept quite laughable... charge users for the "privilege" or reading internal documents, and probably breaking the law in the process (if the company stated that document was not for public consumption).

Maybe they DO have the elusive pdf Sun Microsystems is talking about?

Regards

Fernando Cassia
Buenos Aires, Argentina