A Jolt of Java
Sun Microsystems' boy wonder grows up and even makes peace with Microsoft
McNealy insists that skeptics are missing the business proposition inherent in open source. "People don't understand 'free,' do they?" he says. "Look at Google. When was the last time you paid for a Google search? It's free. You build a large community, you can monetize a large community. You don't have a large community, it's very tough to monetize."
But, for once, there is some caution in McNealy's voice. He acknowledges that he doesn't have the same gold-plated reputation that he did in the '90s. "I've been a chump and a hero and a chump and a hero 40 times over in my career," he says. And while his new strategy of rolling out eco-friendly servers and open-source software to build out the Internet's infrastructure may ultimately be vindicated, for now, he understands that his sights need to be set slightly lower. "We've got to grow and make money. We do that, all is forgiven," he says. The loser stamp of the past few years will be erased. "We'll be cool again--we'll have the right alligator or horsey on our shirt instead of the big L. "After the body blows of the past few years, he seems to relish the thought. So, too, would Sun investors.
AT A GLANCE
Founded:In 1982 by Stanford M.B.A.'s Scott McNealy and Vinod Khosla and computer scientists Andy Bechtolsheim and Bill Joy
Net Loss: $11 million on revenue of $11 billion in 2005
Employees: 38,600
Business: Global supplier of network computing systems, servers, software, and storage
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