Last week, I noted that Java was an afterthought in coverage of Sun’s financial crisis. There was one story that I missed that I think is important in this respect. Southeastern Asset Management, the investment company that recently acquired more than a fifth of Sun’s rapidly declining stock, is sticking up for our favorite platform. “Sun Microsystems is kind of interesting because it’s progressively less of a server company and more of a software company; it’s more about Solaris and Java,” said company president Staley Cates.That was in late October. Since then, Sun’s released some pretty awful financial news. Coverage, and how Java fits in: Sun loses $1.7 billion dollars. Declining server sales in tough economic climate blamed. Jon Schwartz gamely says that Sun is opening doors with its open source software, like … Solaris and MySQL. Sun has has announced no turnaround plan, and offered no guidance on when it will make money. Its low market cap compared to its remaining revenues make it a tempting target for dismemberment. Nobody looking to make a quick buck will have any emotional investment in Java. Open source could save Sun, but is there time? And yes, once again the open source cash cow savior being discussed in MySQL. The more I read this stuff, the more I fear the Java community needs to prepare for the post-Sun era. A publicly traded corporation can’t muddle on like this forever. Software Development