Unfortunately, I am unable to download the latest BIOS, firmware. SP, 
and drivers from sun/oracle because I need a service contract.  I 
purchased a sunfire v20z used (end of life system) on ebay ( pretty 
cheap), I wish to upgrade my very old bios, etc.  I think it is robbery 
for oracle/sun to charge for bios updates, especially when other PC 
companies provide such things for free.

Hopefully, someone here can help by e-mailing the latest bios, etc to me.

Thank You,

Tony Rodriguez
unixpro1970@gmail.com <mailto:unixpro1970@gmail.com>

In article <i35fut$ho4$1@speranza.aioe.org>,
 UnixUser <unixuser@nospam.com> wrote:

> Unfortunately, I am unable to download the latest BIOS, firmware. SP, 
> and drivers from sun/oracle because I need a service contract.  I 
> purchased a sunfire v20z used (end of life system) on ebay ( pretty 
> cheap), I wish to upgrade my very old bios, etc.  I think it is robbery 
> for oracle/sun to charge for bios updates, especially when other PC 
> companies provide such things for free.
> 
> Hopefully, someone here can help by e-mailing the latest bios, etc to me.
> 
> Thank You,
> 
> Tony Rodriguez
> unixpro1970@gmail.com <mailto:unixpro1970@gmail.com>

You bought used equipment as-is and pretty cheaply as you say.  If you 
can't find a friend to freeload off of, I guess you got your money's 
worth out of it and it's either time to decide if it's worth the time 
and effort to maintain without a service contract or if you should just 
recycle it or find another sucker willing to buy it on eBay.

Here's a towel to cry in.

-- 
DeeDee, don't press that button!  DeeDee!  NO!  Dee...
[I filter all Goggle Groups posts, so any reply may be automatically ignored]

In <i35fut$ho4$1@speranza.aioe.org> UnixUser <unixuser@nospam.com> writes:

>Unfortunately, I am unable to download the latest BIOS, firmware. SP, 
>and drivers from sun/oracle because I need a service contract.  I 
>purchased a sunfire v20z used (end of life system) on ebay ( pretty 
>cheap), I wish to upgrade my very old bios, etc.  I think it is robbery 
>for oracle/sun to charge for bios updates, especially when other PC 
>companies provide such things for free.

They're made by Newisys.

-- 
-Gary Mills-        -Unix Group-        -Computer and Network Services-

UnixUser wrote:
> Unfortunately, I am unable to download the latest BIOS, firmware. SP, 
> and drivers from sun/oracle because I need a service contract.  I 
> purchased a sunfire v20z used (end of life system) on ebay ( pretty 
> cheap), I wish to upgrade my very old bios, etc.  I think it is robbery 
> for oracle/sun to charge for bios updates, especially when other PC 
> companies provide such things for free.
> 
> Hopefully, someone here can help by e-mailing the latest bios, etc to me.
> 
> Thank You,
> 
> Tony Rodriguez
> unixpro1970@gmail.com <mailto:unixpro1970@gmail.com>

Most of us either pay Sun for support or do without.  What makes you 
think that you should be able to get firmware and software for free?

Perhaps you should sell your Sunfire V20Z on ebay and take up a less 
expensive hobby!

Thank you to those offering actual helpful advise. :-)

As for the others, does it make any sense to act like JERKS?  I asked a 
simple question and some of your responses are insulting and not helpful 
at all!  What is the point of this newsgroup, especially if the only 
value is a bunch of rude people that rather insult instead of help out?  
Sorry, but I feel BIOS updates and device drivers should always remain 
free .  It is insulting for a company like Oracle/Sun to charge for such 
a thing.  Once again, almost every motherboard company offers BIOS 
software and Device drivers for free so my request isn't unreasonable.  
Good Grief!
 

UnixUser wrote:
> Unfortunately, I am unable to download the latest BIOS, firmware. SP, 
> and drivers from sun/oracle because I need a service contract.  I 
> purchased a sunfire v20z used (end of life system) on ebay ( pretty 
> cheap), I wish to upgrade my very old bios, etc.  I think it is 
> robbery for oracle/sun to charge for bios updates, especially when 
> other PC companies provide such things for free.
>
> Hopefully, someone here can help by e-mailing the latest bios, etc to me.
>
> Thank You,
>
> Tony Rodriguez
> unixpro1970@gmail.com <mailto:unixpro1970@gmail.com>

Thank you to those offering actual helpful advice.  :-)

As for the others, does it make any sense to act like JERKS?  I asked a 
simple question and some of your responses are insulting and not helpful 
at all!  What is the point of this newsgroup, especially if the only 
value is a bunch of rude people that rather insult instead of help out?  
Sorry, but I feel BIOS updates and device drivers should always remain 
free .  It is insulting for a company like Oracle/Sun to charge for such 
a thing.  Once again, almost every motherboard company offers BIOS 
software and Device drivers for free so my request isn't unreasonable.  
Good Grief!


UnixUser wrote:
> Unfortunately, I am unable to download the latest BIOS, firmware. SP, 
> and drivers from sun/oracle because I need a service contract.  I 
> purchased a sunfire v20z used (end of life system) on ebay ( pretty 
> cheap), I wish to upgrade my very old bios, etc.  I think it is 
> robbery for oracle/sun to charge for bios updates, especially when 
> other PC companies provide such things for free.
>
> Hopefully, someone here can help by e-mailing the latest bios, etc to me.
>
> Thank You,
>
> Tony Rodriguez
> unixpro1970@gmail.com <mailto:unixpro1970@gmail.com>

On 08/ 2/10 08:48 AM, Richard B. Gilbert wrote:
> UnixUser wrote:
>> Unfortunately, I am unable to download the latest BIOS, firmware. SP,
>> and drivers from sun/oracle because I need a service contract. I
>> purchased a sunfire v20z used (end of life system) on ebay ( pretty
>> cheap), I wish to upgrade my very old bios, etc. I think it is robbery
>> for oracle/sun to charge for bios updates, especially when other PC
>> companies provide such things for free.
>>
>> Hopefully, someone here can help by e-mailing the latest bios, etc to me.
>>
>> Thank You,
>>
>> Tony Rodriguez
>> unixpro1970@gmail.com <mailto:unixpro1970@gmail.com>
>
> Most of us either pay Sun for support or do without. What makes you
> think that you should be able to get firmware and software for free?
>
> Perhaps you should sell your Sunfire V20Z on ebay and take up a less
> expensive hobby!

Seems like a reasonable expectation, since, until recently, anyone with 
a SunSolve login could download BIOS updates for (at least some) Sun 
hardware, regardless of whether the hardware was on a support contract.

I think this changed about the time of the Oracle purchase.

> Unfortunately, I am unable to download the latest BIOS, firmware. SP,
> and drivers from sun/oracle because I need a service contract. =A0I
> purchased a sunfire v20z used (end of life system) on ebay ( pretty
> cheap), I wish to upgrade my very old bios, etc. =A0I think it is robbery
> for oracle/sun to charge for bios updates, especially when other PC
> companies provide such things for free.

Robbery indeed!  Firmware and driver updates rarely ever contain
additional functionality - they fix bugs.  So once you've paid for
premium hardware, you have to continue paying to get WORKING
firmware?!!  I liked Sun, and Solaris is the best server OS I've
supported, but being the best and being successful don't necessarily
go together.  Technology isn't any different than anything else - most
people will choose a cheaper "good enough" solution over high quality
that costs more.  I'm going to miss being a Sun/Solaris administrator.

On Aug 3, 2:45=A0am, UnixUser <unixu...@nospam.com> wrote:
> Thank you to those offering actual helpful advice. =A0:-)
>
> As for the others, does it make any sense to act like JERKS? =A0I asked a
> simple question and some of your responses are insulting and not helpful
> at all! =A0What is the point of this newsgroup, especially if the only
> value is a bunch of rude people that rather insult instead of help out? =
=A0
> Sorry, but I feel BIOS updates and device drivers should always remain
> free . =A0It is insulting for a company like Oracle/Sun to charge for suc=
h
> a thing. =A0Once again, almost every motherboard company offers BIOS
> software and Device drivers for free so my request isn't unreasonable. =
=A0
> Good Grief!
>

Does it make any sense to entice someone to violate their user
agreement
with Oracle/Sun and open themselves to possible litigation?

I agree that patches and BIOS updates ought to be available and free
but
I am not a decision maker for Oracle.  They have, for better or worse,
decreed
that a support contract is required for that.  As was stated, either
get one
yourself or do without the updates.  Enticing people violate their own
contracts
is not really a way to make friends and influence people.

ITguy wrote:
>> Unfortunately, I am unable to download the latest BIOS, firmware. SP,
>> and drivers from sun/oracle because I need a service contract.  I
>> purchased a sunfire v20z used (end of life system) on ebay ( pretty
>> cheap), I wish to upgrade my very old bios, etc.  I think it is robbery
>> for oracle/sun to charge for bios updates, especially when other PC
>> companies provide such things for free.
> 
> Robbery indeed!  Firmware and driver updates rarely ever contain
> additional functionality - they fix bugs.  So once you've paid for
> premium hardware, you have to continue paying to get WORKING
> firmware?!!  I liked Sun, and Solaris is the best server OS I've
> supported, but being the best and being successful don't necessarily
> go together.  Technology isn't any different than anything else - most
> people will choose a cheaper "good enough" solution over high quality
> that costs more.  I'm going to miss being a Sun/Solaris administrator.

If you had bought that machine new, Sun would almost certainly upgrade 
your BIOS.  You didn't buy it new and you didn't buy it from Sun.  It's 
not clear to me why you think that Sun Microsystems owes you anything!

It would be nice if Sun would provide updated firmware for free but they 
don't and won't.  Your choices are to sell the machine, live with it as 
it now is, or pay Sun for a firmware upgrade.  Actually, there is a 
fourth option: write and install your own BIOS.  It's not very practical 
for most customers but the possibility is there!

In article 
<98985b77-5b39-407c-9462-cf701743d67a@g21g2000prn.googlegroups.com>,
 chuckers <chuckersjp@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Aug 3, 2:45�am, UnixUser <unixu...@nospam.com> wrote:
> > Thank you to those offering actual helpful advice. �:-)
> >
> > As for the others, does it make any sense to act like JERKS? �I asked a
> > simple question and some of your responses are insulting and not helpful
> > at all! �What is the point of this newsgroup, especially if the only
> > value is a bunch of rude people that rather insult instead of help out? �
> > Sorry, but I feel BIOS updates and device drivers should always remain
> > free . �It is insulting for a company like Oracle/Sun to charge for such
> > a thing. �Once again, almost every motherboard company offers BIOS
> > software and Device drivers for free so my request isn't unreasonable. �
> > Good Grief!
> >
> 
> Does it make any sense to entice someone to violate their user
> agreement
> with Oracle/Sun and open themselves to possible litigation?
> 
> I agree that patches and BIOS updates ought to be available and free
> but
> I am not a decision maker for Oracle.  They have, for better or worse,
> decreed
> that a support contract is required for that.  As was stated, either
> get one
> yourself or do without the updates.  Enticing people violate their own
> contracts
> is not really a way to make friends and influence people.

After his 2nd whiny post, I don't think he cares.  I don't think there's 
anything any of us can do to change his mind on his sense of personal 
entitlement regarding the used equipment he bought and is now stuck 
with.  I'm sure he'll continue whining and thinking that Sun screwed him 
personally.  Guess it sucks to be him.

-- 
DeeDee, don't press that button!  DeeDee!  NO!  Dee...
[I filter all Goggle Groups posts, so any reply may be automatically ignored]

On 2010-08-03 01:43:10 +0100, ITguy said:

> Robbery indeed!  Firmware and driver updates rarely ever contain
> additional functionality - they fix bugs.  So once you've paid for
> premium hardware, you have to continue paying to get WORKING
> firmware?!!  I liked Sun, and Solaris is the best server OS I've
> supported, but being the best and being successful don't necessarily
> go together.  Technology isn't any different than anything else - most
> people will choose a cheaper "good enough" solution over high quality
> that costs more.  I'm going to miss being a Sun/Solaris administrator.

So go and buy your Solaris-certified hardware from a vendor willing to 
give you your firmware updates for free. If enough do, Oracle may 
notice and change their policy. Vote with your wallet!
-- 
Chris

ITguy wrote:
> Robbery indeed!  Firmware and driver updates rarely ever contain
> additional functionality - they fix bugs.  So once you've paid for
> premium hardware, you have to continue paying to get WORKING
> firmware?!!

While "robbery" is a (too) strong word, I agree with the rest. I'm 
surprised that this policy is often even defended by customers.

If you buy a car, DVD player, whatever, and it doesn't work as it 
should, would you think it's OK to pay extra money to the producer for 
making it do what it's supposed to do originally?

mp.
-- 
SysAdmin | Institute of Scientific Computing, University of Vienna
      PCA | Analyze, download and install patches for Solaris
          | http://www.par.univie.ac.at/solaris/pca/

On Aug 3, 4:02=A0pm, Martin Paul <m...@par.univie.ac.at> wrote:
> ITguy wrote:
> > Robbery indeed! =A0Firmware and driver updates rarely ever contain
> > additional functionality - they fix bugs. =A0So once you've paid for
> > premium hardware, you have to continue paying to get WORKING
> > firmware?!!
>
> While "robbery" is a (too) strong word, I agree with the rest. I'm
> surprised that this policy is often even defended by customers.
>
> If you buy a car, DVD player, whatever, and it doesn't work as it
> should, would you think it's OK to pay extra money to the producer for
> making it do what it's supposed to do originally?
>
> mp.

Nowhere was it stated that it didn't work.  The OP wanted to update it
to the latest version to fix bugs that may or may not be affecting its
functionality.  The machine was purchased "AS IS" 2nd (or even 3rd)
hand.

Had the OP bought from the original manufacturer (Sun/Oracle), a
support
contract would have been required as well and the problem would have
been
self rectifying.  As it is, the machine is EOL and to expect support
for
it for free seems a bit too strong as well.  It sucks but those are
about
the only available options.

chuckers wrote:
> The machine was purchased "AS IS" 2nd (or even 3rd) hand.

That's not the point. As you says yourself, the situation would be the 
same if he had bought the machine from the original manufacturer.

> As it is, the machine is EOL and to expect support for
> it for free seems a bit too strong as well.

We're not talking about "support" here, like in allowing him to send the 
machine in and getting it repaired for free. It's about getting access 
to already existing fixes. The README of the BIOS update says it 
includes e.g. fixes for AMD errata, ie. known problems which affect the 
functionality of the machine.

How would any manufacturer be motivated to produce flaw-free products, 
when he can save money spent for in-house testing and later earn more 
money by selling "support" at the same time? That's a win-win situation, 
albeit for the company only.

mp.
-- 
SysAdmin | Institute of Scientific Computing, University of Vienna
      PCA | Analyze, download and install patches for Solaris
          | http://www.par.univie.ac.at/solaris/pca/

Martin Paul wrote:
> ITguy wrote:
>> Robbery indeed!  Firmware and driver updates rarely ever contain
>> additional functionality - they fix bugs.  So once you've paid for
>> premium hardware, you have to continue paying to get WORKING
>> firmware?!!
> 
> While "robbery" is a (too) strong word, I agree with the rest. I'm 
> surprised that this policy is often even defended by customers.
> 
> If you buy a car, DVD player, whatever, and it doesn't work as it 
> should, would you think it's OK to pay extra money to the producer for 
> making it do what it's supposed to do originally?
> 
> mp.

New cars, DVD players, etc, are sold with a warranty!  The initial 
purchaser gets repair service for; e.g. 90 days or 10,000 miles, or 
whatever is popular this day, month, and year.

Used merchandise may, or may not, come with the *dealer's* 30 day 
warranty or 3000 mile warranty or something like that.

I'm sure that the firmware he has works.  It may be a three year old 
release and there may, or may not, be updated versions available.  I 
don't see anything that would entitle the OP to any upgrade.

If he wanted a system with up-to-date firmware he should have bought 
one.  Caveat emptor!

On Sun, 2010-08-01 at 21:01 -0700, UnixUser wrote:
> Unfortunately, I am unable to download the latest BIOS, firmware. SP, 
> and drivers from sun/oracle because I need a service contract.  I 
> purchased a sunfire v20z used (end of life system) on ebay ( pretty 
> cheap), I wish to upgrade my very old bios, etc.  I think it is robbery 
> for oracle/sun to charge for bios updates, especially when other PC 
> companies provide such things for free.
> 
> Hopefully, someone here can help by e-mailing the latest bios, etc to me.


I sort of hope somebody does send it to you... however, it would be
illegal to do so.  

I think Sunoracle has been a fiasco so far.  Difficult to tell if it's
too late for Oracle to turn things around or not... but I'd certainly
support allowing the firmware downloads... and many other downloads as
well (it just makes sense).

I feel sorry for the engineers at Sun.  They (used to) tout their
openness and their contributions to free software, yet, now that Oracle
is in control, none of that is allowed or encouraged anymore.  Not
saying they have to open up their firmware etc, but if it WERE open, we
might not be having this conversation at all.

The question is:  What is support?

Sunoracle is trying to get any and every dollar they can... so they are
taking the stance that EVERYTHING they do is a chargeable item...
everything becomes support.... everything...

This has created problems with the (used to be) open source side of the
company formally called Sun Microsystems.  Sunoracle's answer so far is
to abandon any and all work that would not directly result in forced
cash transactions happening with Oracle.  Thus, if you ever thought of
Oracle as being a nice community player, Oracle must now be viewed as a
community enemy (a leech).  The bad part is their amount of DEPENDENCE
on community aided software and other technologies.  Again, this is why
a line needs to be drawn... Oracle has become an enemy.

So... yep... no help from me here (sorry).... but I DO SYMPATHIZE and
eventually, ALL (and I mean ALL) Sun customers (support contract or not)
will be FORCED to EMPATHIZE... unless some dramatic changes happen at
Sunoracle.


>From openoffice.org, you can read:

Can Sun ever take away the code? 
        
        The simple answer is NO. Once code is released under the LGPL,
        it can never be taken away. Once LGPL, always LGPL. Sun has no
        plans to return to a closed-development model. Sun is subject to
        the same rules as the rest of the community, including giving
        back modifications under the LGPL . Thus, Sun can never take
        away the code and the community's contributions to it. This code
        belongs to the community as guaranteed by the LGPL.
        
"Sun has no plans to return to a closed-development model"... anyone
here believe that Sunoracle would say this??  I don't think so.

And remember, also from openoffice.org:

The OpenOffice.org project is primarily sponsored by Oracle, which is
the primary contributor of code to the Project.

What this means is that OpenOffice.org needs a NEW sponsor and possibly
more contributors, though I imagine many might be former Oracle
employees.




I fully expect Sunoracle to cease any and all funding and "support" for
anything that is free or open or beneficial to the world (that last one
is a hint to stop using the Oracle DB.. so maybe they don't choose to do
that... but eventually it will happen, and it might be VERY soon).

On Mon, 2010-08-02 at 12:16 +0000, Gary Mills wrote:
> In <i35fut$ho4$1@speranza.aioe.org> UnixUser <unixuser@nospam.com> writes:
> 
> >Unfortunately, I am unable to download the latest BIOS, firmware. SP, 
> >and drivers from sun/oracle because I need a service contract.  I 
> >purchased a sunfire v20z used (end of life system) on ebay ( pretty 
> >cheap), I wish to upgrade my very old bios, etc.  I think it is robbery 
> >for oracle/sun to charge for bios updates, especially when other PC 
> >companies provide such things for free.
> 
> They're made by Newisys.
> 

BUT, just like other platforms, Sun puts their HW stamp all over
everything rendering (often times) the generic firmware upgrades
USELESS.

On 2010-08-03 22:58:06 +0100, Chris Cox said:

> On Sun, 2010-08-01 at 21:01 -0700, UnixUser wrote:
>> Unfortunately, I am unable to download the latest BIOS, firmware. SP,
>> and drivers from sun/oracle because I need a service contract.  I
>> purchased a sunfire v20z used (end of life system) on ebay ( pretty
>> cheap), I wish to upgrade my very old bios, etc.  I think it is robbery
>> for oracle/sun to charge for bios updates, especially when other PC
>> companies provide such things for free.
>> 
>> Hopefully, someone here can help by e-mailing the latest bios, etc to me.
> 
> 
> I sort of hope somebody does send it to you... however, it would be
> illegal to do so.
> 
> I think Sunoracle has been a fiasco so far.  Difficult to tell if it's
> too late for Oracle to turn things around or not... but I'd certainly
> support allowing the firmware downloads... and many other downloads as
> well (it just makes sense).
> 
> I feel sorry for the engineers at Sun.  They (used to) tout their
> openness and their contributions to free software, yet, now that Oracle
> is in control, none of that is allowed or encouraged anymore.

<http://www.oracle.com/technologies/linux/linux-tech-leadership-contributions.html> 
suggests that Oracle think highly of their ability to contribute to 
Linux open source projects.

It is confusing that they say less about their own in-house open source 
projects. Their changes to the different OpenSolaris consolidations 
happen pretty much every day, judging from the Mercurial commit logs.

> And remember, also from openoffice.org:
> 
> The OpenOffice.org project is primarily sponsored by Oracle, which is
> the primary contributor of code to the Project.
> 
> What this means is that OpenOffice.org needs a NEW sponsor and possibly
> more contributors, though I imagine many might be former Oracle
> employees.

So no-one's commenting on Illumos's work fixing ON?

-- 
Chris

Chris Cox <chrisncoxn@endlessnow.com> wrote:


>>From openoffice.org, you can read:

> Can Sun ever take away the code? 


Maybe not but it's not going to stop them from acting like dickheads.

Surprised this wasn't mentioned already...

<http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Report-Oracle-shuts-down-PostgreSQL-test-servers-1047676.html>

This whole thing with Sun and Solaris is going to turn into another SCO and
Unixware fiasco. This whole "pay or no play" with the service contracts is
just the first steps of stupidity from Oracle.

I'll bet anything the Solaris path down the road will include making it a
"base install" with things like nfs, zfs and other "built-in" parts being
optional charge extra features or modules.

You guys defending Oracle and this "just get a service contract" nonsense
for security patches and bios updates, more power to you. Just make sure you
have your tin cups and expressway exits staked out for panhandling.

Once the beancounters at some of these Solaris/Sun shops start realizing the
additonal costs, better have your penguin caps ready.

-bruce
bje@ripco.com

In article <i3bomq$nul$1@remote5bge0.ripco.com>,
Bruce Esquibel  <bje@ripco.com> wrote:
>Surprised this wasn't mentioned already...
>
><http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Report-Oracle-shuts-down-PostgreSQL-test-servers-1047676.html>

Brett Winterford's article on Larry Ellison and company's
end of support for Postgres is better:
<URL:http://www.itnews.com.au/News/221051,oracle-shuts-down-open-source-test-servers.aspx>

Are folks still able to buy Postgres support from Oracle?

>This whole thing with Sun and Solaris is going to turn into another SCO and
>Unixware fiasco. This whole "pay or no play" with the service contracts is
>just the first steps of stupidity from Oracle.

Larry Ellison bought a lot of great IP at a firesale price.

Scott McNealy and Jonathan Schwartz said they would only
use their IP landsharks for good, not evil.
But what's Larry Ellison saying?

And what if anything did his landsharks promise the US and EU
taxmen?

>I'll bet anything the Solaris path down the road will include making it a
>"base install" with things like nfs, zfs and other "built-in" parts being
>optional charge extra features or modules.

That would fit with how Judith Sim and company's marketing
wonks price their other products.

>You guys defending Oracle and this "just get a service contract" nonsense
>for security patches and bios updates, more power to you. Just make sure you
>have your tin cups and expressway exits staked out for panhandling.

Solaris patches and system firmware updates required a service
contract or support subscription prior to the acquisition.

>Once the beancounters at some of these Solaris/Sun shops start realizing the
>additonal costs, better have your penguin caps ready.

It certainly appears that Larry Ellison and company has found
Ed Zander's business plan in an old file cabinet: shrink Solaris
systems from a volume to a niche solution for all but the
premier customers that Keith Block and company's salescritters
can land. Once they land'em soakem like an IBM salescritter.

That niche doesn't offer a lot of opportunities for
independent developers or administrators.

John
groenveld@acm.org

On Wed, 2010-08-04 at 07:33 +0100, Chris Ridd wrote:
.....
> 
> <http://www.oracle.com/technologies/linux/linux-tech-leadership-contributions.html> 
> suggests that Oracle think highly of their ability to contribute to 
> Linux open source projects.

Whaddya know!!  Oracle says that Oracle is doing great with regards to
their treatment of the free and open source community!

:-)

> 
> It is confusing that they say less about their own in-house open source 
> projects. Their changes to the different OpenSolaris consolidations 
> happen pretty much every day, judging from the Mercurial commit logs.
> 
> > And remember, also from openoffice.org:
> > 
> > The OpenOffice.org project is primarily sponsored by Oracle, which is
> > the primary contributor of code to the Project.
> > 
> > What this means is that OpenOffice.org needs a NEW sponsor and possibly
> > more contributors, though I imagine many might be former Oracle
> > employees.
> 
> So no-one's commenting on Illumos's work fixing ON?

Only to say .... EXACTLY... this is JUST another example where the
community has been forced to slam the door on Sunoracle and go it alone.
With that said, I FULLY believe in Illumos's ability to drink Oracle
kool-aid and bow at their feet.  Personally, I do not trust either
one... but at least in spirit, Illumos makes sense... they just lack
independent thought away from Sun (now Sunoracle).

The following projects are at GREAT risk (and I cannot overemphasize
RISK):

1. OpenOffice
2. OpenSolaris
3. MySQL
4. Btrfs
5. OCFS2
6. VirtualBox
7. ZFS
8. PostgreSQL
(there's probably more)


Larry's GOT to be loving this.  He likes people that fear him.

People were concerned about things like MySQL... people have been
mislead... it's MUCH worse than their deepest fears.

Oracle as a company needs to follow SCO.... time to move on....