IBM in talks to buy Sun Micro

[Nflight]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090318/...o_takeover_ibm

I wonder what will happen to Solaris OS ?

But like I heard from some investors is that now would be a good time to rule the world!

Any Comments

[AMDave]

My gut feeling is that many F500s would feel more confident that their support contracts would be continued and SLAs would be met under IBM's patronage as opposed to the potential feeding frenzy that might see the breakup of Sun's market and services if they slide any further.

Don't forget there is now loads of Sun hardware in dedicated data centers underpinning large corporate IT. The so-called 'cloud' has grown considerably in the last couple of years and will do so even more as businesses look to cut costs in the current economic environment.

I will spare you my pedestrian spiel and say that I think it would be a great move that would boost market confidence and SunOS and Solaris might continue to do well. They have some terrific IP involved in their software projects.

Given the hardware and software footprint and the market share, I recon we could even see a counter offer from HP?

[mitchellds]

Yup, and I have 2.5 million worth of brand new Sun's to install for out tech refresh.

[AMDave]

Would you like some help with that?

[mitchellds]

Yup I'd love to put that setup to crunching. I can only imagine the output.

[AMDave]

Topically, Australia has announced investment in a AU$30M Sun supercomputer for weather modelling.
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/...-15306,00.html

With many deals like that on the table, Sun's share price seems somewhat undervalued at the moment. I think the market is being very unkind and many investors are over reacting in markets where they should have much more confidence. But that could be a good opportunity for the rest of us to snap something up.

[AMDave]

Job's done.

As reported by TheRegister, Oracle are doing the deal:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04...acle_buys_sun/

When I posted above, I did not know that HP had already been approached before IBM.

Now when you want your mid-range AMD cluster to blaze "a shining light" into your future, you also get to see what that future holds

...

You have killed the poison snak
There are 5 gold coin on the ground
There is a passage leading North
Oracle foretells Sun shines brightly in your future

Heh. Had to be done

(apologies to those who have never experienced the joys of MUDD :p )

[Brucifer]

I'm glad for Sun that it has turned out the way it has. While IBM has deep pockets and all, I never forget that they let OS/2 fail, which IMHO was much better than windows, too bad they didn't really push it, and they also let the micro-channel stuff sink. IBM is only really in to the large mainframe/supercomputer world where the really huge bucks are. Oracle is in tons and tons of server room as the main business database. Sun supports tons of Oracle systems. So Oracle isn't going to let Sun slip. It's a good deal for both sides. I'm just glad that HP didn't do it. HP brings to mind Compaq, DEC, Alpha.... nightmares.....

[AMDave]

I read this blog today and it raised the question of social and corporate responsibility of Oracle as the buyer. I found it to be thought provoking.

http://www.linux-mag.com/id/7494/