What Will Sun Do?

By El Destino
Pigdog Staff Writer

Rumors of a mega-deal between AOL, Netscape, and Sun worried advocates of the Open-Source Software movement. "We are interested in finding out how AOL will deal with Netscape's plans for support of its browser as an open source product that can be freely distributed, and which is supported on multiple OS platforms..." commented Jamie Love, director of the Washington, D.C.-based Consumer Project on Technology, on an internet-protocol mailing list.

But Sun's commitment is also suspect. As questions linger, troubled geeks cast their minds back to August -- when mounting paranoia burst to the surface at an "Open Source Town Meeting" sponsored by O'Reilly and Associates. A 14-member panel of open-source luminaries voiced their concerns about how Sun Microsystems was handling their Java language.

"If Sun doesn't wa

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