Java Can Be A Contender-If Sun Lets It

I Ever since Sun The Tamil Nadu Government

is going all out to woo the IT industry into the state. Will its efforts bear fruits?

Microsystems Inc. invented Java, a computer language for creating programs that run on

computer networks, Chief Executive Scott G McNealy has boasted that it would roast

Microsoft Corp. Now, it's Java that's getting roasted-and not just by the software giant.

On March 20, Java partner Hewlett-Packard Corp. broke ranks. Accusing Sun of keeping too

tight a rein on developing new versions of Java, HP has created its own Java variant for

non-computer devices such as printers. Meanwhile, other Java backers are muttering about

Sun's heavy-handed stewardship of Java's evolution. Even avid Java programmers carp about

its shortcomings.

Can McNealy keep Java perking? Yes, but

only if he-alongwith Java partners and customers-quit their petty infighting. Java may

never knock off Microsoft's Windows. But faults and all, Java is still an important

breakthrough: A system for creating software that runs, unaltered, on all sorts of

computers and devices. That could make doing business across the Internet simpler and

could transform the software business in the network era from a one-horse race led by

Microsoft to a true contest.

This all depends, however, on whether Java

becomes a true standard. So far, McNealy's approach has been to insist on strict terms for

other companies' use of '100 percent Pure Java' to enforce uniformity. When Microsoft

developed a Windows-only version of Java, Sun sued for breach of contract and, on March

24, the US District Court in San Jose granted a preliminary injunction preventing

Microsoft from using the Java logo.

Problem is, such victories may not help

McNealy with his bigger goal-to make Java a widely-used standard. Nor do his disparaging

remarks about Microsoft and its products do more than amuse geeky aficionados of Sun's

Unix operating system. For Java to succeed, McNealy needs to befriend Windows programmers,

not insult them. Says Stan Wang, CEO of Java startup Infospace, "We don't want to be

in the middle of a holy war."

McNealy's energy and skill would be better

spent in fixing the broken promises he has made to Java enthusiasts. Its

shortcomings-bugs, primitive programming tools, and relatively slow performance-have

allowed Microsoft to belittle the original and offer improvements tied to Windows.

As HP's defection shows, Java could

splinter into incompatible camps-trashing its promise of programs that can 'run

everywhere'. The situation is coming to resemble what happened a decade ago with Unix,

another would-be universal standard: Each computer-maker tweaked it, and soon programs had

to be written anew for each brand-while Windows delivered guaranteed uniformity and became

the overwhelming standard.

How to avoid a rerun? One bold step McNealy

should consider: Cut loose Sun's JavaSoft unit that controls Java now. With adequate

investment by partners such as IBM and Oracle Corp., JavaSoft could address the gaps

vexing them and other partners-and quell fears that Sun is shaping Java to benefit its $

8.5 billion computer business. "It would be a benefit to the whole industry,"

says Gary L Steele, CEO of Java startup Netiva Software Inc.

Strong Start



A little cooperation would help, too. Java already is off to a strong start, running on 70
million PCs and other computers. But if more computer-makers create more variants, that

momentum will slow. That's why HP's split is shameful. HP CEO Lewis E Platt-whose company

still backs Sun's Java for computers-should tell his managers to stick to what programmers

want: the ability to write their programs once and run them anywhere. HP's move-backed by

Microsoft-endangers that.

So far, "Java hasn't lost any

momentum," says Goldman, Sachs & Co. Analyst Laura Conigliaro. But in a business

this fast-moving, customer perceptions are as important as reality. And the perception

today is that Java is getting diluted. Unless Sun and its partners can wise up and start

looking past their own noses, that perception could become reality. Then, it's game over:

Bill Gates wins again.

ROBERT D HOF



Copyrighted


April 6, 1998
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