Cooperation with Microsoft isn´t evil

Charlie Schluting of enterprisenetworkingplanet.com wrote an insightful piece, why working together with Microsoft is not something evil.

Sun is a company that "gets it." There is no business that can run wholly on Linux or Solaris, at least not yet. Whether the goal is to get rid of Microsoft products or not, one must contend with the fact that every business has a Windows presence. That, my friends, means interoperability and cooperation is required.

This is perfectly correct. You can open source everthing, you are an ideal host for your communities. When it comes to business, you have to live with the fact, that Redmond, Microsoft and their products exist. Customers use their products. So cooperation with Microsoft isn´t evil, it´s a necessity. At the end it´s a sign of the things, that have changed at Sun in the last two years:

Sun is increasingly moving toward a more cooperative competitive environment. Sun, before Schwartz, was extremely hostile toward its competitors. The two biggest sore spots, IBM and Microsoft, have been successfully turned into allies. Well, at least partners who compete. Sun is keeping its enemies, as well as its friends, close at hand.