Analysis of Oracle's patent suit against Android's use of Java

[Richardk]

If Java isn't being paid for by somebody, then what is the financial incentive for Oracle to keep developing it, other than basic and sql libraries that it uses?

Indeed. What incentive was there for Oracle to buy Sun if not for the money?

[Richardk]

Exactly what are "software patents"?

You can't patent an "idea", correct? And an algorithm is an expression of an idea though it could also express a process which probably could have a patent but where do you draw the line?

Or is a software patent a specific set of instructions but in what language? Pseudo code, some high level language, bytes codes or what?

I can't wrap my head around the concept unless it's something very specific but then again, if it's too specific then it's probably not patentable. Like someone "owning" a patent on "round" wheels that go round and round. So you either pay or you have to use another shape. That's what software patents feel like.

[lorb]

Indeed. What incentive was there for Oracle to buy Sun if not for the money?

If anything, it looks like a case of "good cop / bad cop" now (or passive/aggressive if you prefer that term).
Sun - Oh here is a bunch of source code, enjoy children.  Why look at us, just giving away the store.  Why won't someone buy pretty lil' us?
Oracle - Hey you rascals, pay up!

I'm sorry but I can't see Sun as being completely benevolent if they were looking to get bought out and getting huge severance packages - which Oracle could provide!  IBM didn't want to pay for that!  Remember folks, this is BUSINESS.

IMHO, IBM was looking a gift-horse in the mouth, mulling over their books and stuff, whereas Oracle didn't balk.  Why on earth does anyone look at that and still come away with the notion of IBM being a better steward?

And c'mon, what is it with these people quitting after acquisition?  They drug us into meetings and made us talk about PATENTS!  Well maybe it's because the way you were previously doing business was running your company into a tight cash position.  My take on Sun was that they could have survived, perhaps not as well as investors would have liked, if they hadn't kept acquiring other companies.  They could have chosen to become a smaller, more focused company, and just accepted that, continual shrinkage.

[Richardk]

I didn't follow the story too closely about whether they were "acquired" or were looking to be bought out. If they were looking for a buyer then clearly someone wanted to cash out.

Unfortunately investors often want to make the "big bucks" and have growing returns instead of having a stable company that performs more like a bank CD.

The question is what will Oracle do with the goodies it got from Sun?

Instead of killing any of the products, I think they would make more money charging for them. Unfortunately I've seen other companies buy out their competitors and quickly kill off those products. With that aside, if the "goodies" are all open-source, could they change the terms? And if they did, could the community fork the projects and say screw you to Oracle? I'm sure the lawyers have reviewed all the details.

On a similar note, in all the places that I've ever worked that used Java or MySQL, I've never heard any discussions of paying license fees or anything else yet clearly the website implies that "it's not free if in production". If someone is knowledgeable in these licenses and when you should start paying, I'd enjoy the discussion in another thread.

[lorb]

Richard, they were definitely looking to be bought in the end.  I mean, the rumor had been going around for years that they should be, but it was getting desperate at the end, for whatever reason.

Their servers could cost a lot of money, the HW and OS support alone.  I figure if that HW revenue alone went away, then they probably want to make it back somewhere else.  I mean, if all they really  had was Java, then they would have to start charging someone for it somehow.  I mean, you could spend close to $50k just for the HW server, and then you are intstalling your own other SW onto it after that.  Why?  Well, it the data on the computer could be worth millions, so you don't want to go too cheap and unsupported on the box, I guess.  Not that you couldn't build something from Fry's at a fraction of the price.