Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!bellcore!rutgers!psuvax1!blitz!ehrlich From: ehrlich@blitz (Dan Ehrlich) Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards Subject: Re: Open Software Foundation Message-ID: <3648@psuvax1.psu.edu> Date: 31 May 88 14:51:35 GMT References: <14976@brl-adm.ARPA> <54822@sun.uucp> Sender: news@psuvax1.psu.edu Reply-To: ehrlich@blitz.cs.psu.edu (Dan Ehrlich) Organization: Department of Computer Science, Penn State University Lines: 25 In article <54822@sun.uucp> guy@gorodish.Sun.COM (Guy Harris) writes: >Sun is not a subsidiary of AT&T. I have no expectation that Sun will become a >subsidiary of AT&T in the future, and I know of nobody within Sun who has such >an expectation. > >Sun and AT&T are two separate companies, and will probably continue to be so >for the forseeable future. Please keep that in mind. > It is my understanding the AT&T currently owns 20% of SUN Microsystems' stock (it may be less with options up to 20%). Anytime a single company or individual owns that large a block of stock they most assuredly can influence major decisions. The operative wording above is "for the forseeable future". If AT&T comes to the conclusion that SUN is doing something it does not like, it could exert quite a bit of pressure to get things done differently. I would be very surprised if AT&T did not use the power that comes with owning 20% of a company to change something they percieved as bad for AT&T's business. Dan Ehrlich| Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are The Pennsylvania State University | my own, and should not be atributed Department of Computer Science | to anyone else, living or dead. 334B Whitmore Laboratory |