Jonathan sent a email to the company, the WSJ has reposted it here: Sun’s Schwartz Tries to Reassure His Troops in Email.

The following amazes me…

We’ve never walked away from the wholesale reinvention of business models, the redefinition of technology boundaries or the pursuit of new routes to market.

Apparently there is no time like the present in which to start. Going on…

We’ve never walked away from a challenge – or an opportunity.

um…. what?

I do not consider the announcement to be the end of the road, not by any stretch of the imagination. I believe this is the first step down a different path, one that takes us and our innovations to an even broader market, one that ensures the ubiquitous role we play in the world around us.

Did I miss something? I know I’ve been drinking Jonathan’s kool-aid a long time, but if Sun ceases being Sun and become a part of Oracle, isn’t that the end of the road? Sun badge replaced with Oracle badge… I think thats sorta the end.

Thank you for everything you’ve done over the years, and for everything you will do in the future to carry the business forward.

Ya, to carry their business forward. What the hell?

Lets please separate things a bit. Solaris, Java, MySQL, SPARC, etc, will go on…. Sun will not. His email sort of glosses over that fact with the same old crufty flowery “we rule” statements… except that “we” don’t exist anymore, or at least we won’t in a couple months.

I think the Oracle deal may very well be transformational for Solaris, Java and SPARC, but Sun Microsystems is something very near and dear to many of us… and now its done. I realize he was trying to avoid a “sorry, we tried, it was time to throw in the towel” mail, but wow… our great and mighty leader is himself in denial. Sad.

In a cloud of sadness and bewilderment, I find comfort in Ecclesiastes, the wisdom of Solomon, approx 3,000 years ago he had the right words:

3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

2 a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

8 a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.