CIOL:Indians are mavericks Scott McNealy

MUMBAI: “Technology has the shelf life of a banana, why not share it?” asked Scott McNealy, the chairman and co-founder of Sun Microsystems Inc, as he advocated the open source revolution in technology and business practices.

“The technology we have today will be obsolete in 18 months, so why not share it? Why to litigate and protect your IP. Instead share, publish and document it openly. At Sun, our strategy has always been towards the open environment, be it the source, business or communities. Around 25 per cent of Linux is Sun,” he said while explaining that proprietary standards stifle progress.

McNealy added that Sun is one open-source company that not only opens its IP but also indemnifies it. “Others may just let you use their open code but the risk of litigation is upon you. At Sun, we will take the bullet for you.”

Taking a dig at Microsoft, the Sun chairman said many big shots today do not care about the three costs of a new technology: the acquisition cost, operation cost and burial cost. He referred to Windows as an expensive, complicated and challenging (from the point of view of viruses) operating system. He hinted that Microsoft offerings like Vista lag on the burial side of costs.

“Can it help you migrate from Vista to another environment? There are huge amounts being spent in migration aspect of legacy systems, which is a grave CIO concern. People who are above the Moore’s law curve can not afford to get locked in,” he said citing DB2 and Vista as technologies that have no provision for exit.

“Be very careful of getting into an aeroplane with no doors, you might want to get off it. Right?” he remarked sharply living up to his reputation of being bold and fair. He even added, “We are not just great, but a good company. We work hard. We don’t cheat. We don’t spy.”

McNealy was speaking at the inaugural address at Sun Technovate ‘07 to an audience comprising more than 200 CTOs and CIOs from across the country. He of course did not say adieu without a brief mention of India on his second visit to the country that has been identified as a GEM (Geographically established Market) on Sun’s atlas.

“Indians have a competitive streak. I like that. They do not follow the hierarchy and have a maverick mindset, a trait that is often a double-edged sword for them. I first experienced this with my co-founder Vinod Khosla as he brought streaks of Indian culture at Sun. I love this trait and get a kick out of it.”

McNealy will be in Bangalore on Friday.

© CyberMedia News

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