"You gotta hand it to those folks over at Sun. They sure know how to rev up the PR engines with in-your-face performances from McNealy & Co. Whether it's bashing Microsoft or bashing Microsoft--and whether you agree with them or not--they're always a lot of fun and manage to stir up the waters enough to get the attention of their rivals.
"Such was the case with Sun's recent announcement that it's getting into the Linux desktop game. But amid the histrionics, the announcement was couched in enough equivocation to make one wonder just exactly what Sun's going to do. To be sure, it was yet another swipe at arch nemesis Microsoft and the skeptics among us might say that Sun's just trying to cash in on the recently revived interest in Linux desktops.
"Sun's plan is to offer x86-based Linux machines built using off-the-shelf parts (put together in somebody else's garage, not Sun's) which will be sold in lots of 100. The generic hardware is complemented by a mostly generic array of Linux desktop software. The catch--besides having to buy these boxes in bunches of 100--is that you have to buy a server to go with them. So, essentially, Sun is ready to sell you 100 low-cost razors if you buy one of their blades..."
