Ray Lane and Scott McNealy discuss thin client, Microsoft
LOS ANGELES (09/23/97) — Echoing familiar themes, the presidents of Oracle Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. at the Oracle Open World Conference heralded the arrival of network computing and Java programs as a new paradigm to replace complicated Windows PC-based environments.
“Now we can talk about network computing because it’s real. It’s here,” said Ray Lane, Oracle president and chief operating officer.
Oracle is positioning network computers — or thin-client-based computers that attach to servers via the Internet or intranets — as a less expensive way to get computers to masses of persons unable to afford PCs. Network computers also offer possibilities in applications such as Internet commerce and employee assistance, Lane said. “Web-based, thin-client/server applications now have the possibility of offering market access without infrastructure,” he said.
Acknowledging comparisons with old-time dumb terminals, Lane said network computers are more network-centric. “While there are certainly some similarities, the dumb terminal does not have a network to browse,” Lane said.
Oracle’s role in network computing will be to provide a data management infrastructure, based on its Oracle8 database, for Web-based data and application access, Lane said.
“The goal here is to deploy applications at 50 percent or (less) cost than today in a client/server world,” he said.
A conference attendee said network computers would warrant consideration if they are as inexpensive as proposed. “If it’s cheaper, than I guess you have to take a look at it,” said Andrew Currie, a database administrator with Michelin America Services, a tire manufacturer in Greenville, SC. His firm thus far has not considered network computers, but is beginning to deploy Java applications, he said.
Oracle’s role for its tools products is changing as the company moves toward network computing, Lane said. Tools will focus on providing solutions rather than strictly on feature sets, he said.
Following Lane, Sun president, chairman, and CEO Scott McNealy said Java is becoming more pervasive. Java offers portability and ease of use over Windows, and JavaBeans applications will become more prominent in corporations, McNealy said. He reiterated a Sun position that Unix is superior to Microsoft’s Windows NT. “You can’t do remote administration on NT. With Solaris (Sun’s Unix system), you can do browser-based administration,” McNealy said.
He chided Microsoft Corp. for recently urging Sun to cede control of Java to a standards-based process.
“Microsoft sent an open letter about how we should manage the open interface process,” related to Java, McNealy said. This is akin to asking Mike Tyson for culinary advice or having W.C. Fields advise the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on drinking, McNealy added.
“I think they (Microsoft officials) ought to look in the mirror before trying to explain how open interfaces and APIs ought to run,” he said. Microsoft, however, is invited to participate in standards-based processes, he said.
Stressing Sun’s close ties with Oracle, McNealy said the two companies are working together in areas such as Java clients, 64-bit Solaris and clustering.
Oracle Corp., of Redwood Shores, CA, can be reached at (650) 506-7000 and https://www.oracle.com. Sun Microsystems Inc., of Mountain View, CA, can be reached at (650) 960-1300 or https://www.sun.com.
