"Garner Miller" wrote in message
...
And Java. They tried to "extend" Java for their own use and change the
way it worked. They were sued by Sun, its creator, because they
effectively broke what was supposed to be a cross-platform computer
language. They settled out of court, greatly in Sun's favor.

The primary reason they lost that suit is that their license from Sun
essentially prohibited them from doing what they did. It was a contract
dispute, nothing more. The case certainly doesn't suggest there's anything
wrong with trying to make something "better" (however one might want to
define that).

Sun's interest in Java is no more pure than Microsoft's was. They intended
to take over the web as a platform by providing a standard to replace the
usual operating system. Still do, for that matter. I wish them luck. But
I don't imagine that they have anyone's best interest but their own in mind.

Pete