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Ballmer, IBM Surprised By Oracle-Sun Deal

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the i-didn't-see-it-coming dept.

Geon Lasli writes "Reporters caught up with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in Moscow to get his take on Oracle's deal to buy Sun Microsystems for US$7.4 billion. Ballmer was at a loss for words: 'I need to think about it. I am very surprised.' According to a source, IBM hadn't given up on purchasing Sun and was blindsided by Oracle's move. I guess IBM must be regretting playing tough 2 weeks ago. Unknown to outsiders, Sun had probably found the Oracle lifeboat before they decided to pull the plug on the deal."

10 of 324 comments (clear)

  1. You are a cum-guzzler by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    and a Communist!

  2. Stupid Last Minute Bidders by fm6 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    On a serious note, I hate last-minute eBay bidders. Since all auctions on eBay are proxy auctions, you're not really bidding when you enter a number, you're setting a maximum that your proxy can bid on your behalf. The people you're bidding against don't know what your maximum bid is, so it doesn't matter if you enter your maximum as soon as you decide on it or at the last minute.

    Except in the rare case where somebody else enters the same maximum as you do. In which case the person who entered the maximum first wins! So why wait for the last minute? Unless you're more concerned about winning than about getting a good deal, which I guess describes a lot of eBay bidders.

    Of course, this behavior is profitable for eBay, since overbidding inflates their commissions, so they make no attempt to educate folks, and even send you "Don't let it get away!" emails if you're outbid. But it gets really old. You seem to be winning, and then somebody willing to pay way too much jumps in at the last minute. Too frustrating and time consuming. I try to stick to Buy It Now purchases these days.

  3. I hate to be the grammar Nazi here... by Hurricane78 · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    But... I have seen my share of retarded "their"s, where "they're"s should be used. But...

    > Larry Ellison want's to create...
    > Now with Sun, their getting an OS,...
    > ...I had time to think about it, I couldn't think of a much better buyer of Sun.
    > Here you have two CEO's that hate MS...
    > While I don't hate Linux, the linux fanbois on here have been getting on my nerves so let me throw in this barb.
    > When the opportunity to buy Sun, Oracle chose them over RedHat.
    > (Ignoring typo in last line.)

    Please tell me, that English is not your first language. Because it's my third. And while I do my share of errors, I got the logic of the apostrophe hammered into my brain. Partially, because it's pointed out in every third comment on /. ^^
    You got the vocabulary, so I guess it could be first language. Which would really be a shame. :)

    --
    Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
    1. Re:I hate to be the grammar Nazi here... by richlv · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      english is my 3rd language. even i spotted a few errors and they undermined your post. and that's with my english sucking quite a bit. sorry, but if you do not respect readers of your comment, they won't respect your comments.

      --
      Rich
    2. Re:I hate to be the grammar Nazi here... by defaria · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      If I took the time to proofread, I'd spot the errors. But commenting on Slashdot, just isn't that important to me and I couldn't care less about the grammatical errors as long as the underlying message gets across.

      Great! So then you obviously have no qualms with us thinking you're a dumbass. I mean you said it right there - it's not important to you. Therefore it's clear you don't care enough what sort of impression you leave so we are free to make any impression we want. Therefore I declear you're a dumbass!

    3. Re:I hate to be the grammar Nazi here... by rackserverdeals · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      Go ahead. Call me what you want if it makes you feel better.

      I'm under no obligation to share my opinions or make sure they're grammatically correct.

      I value my time to not waste it proofreading comments on slashdot. Something I do for entertainment.

      What does that mean of the importance of your, and other's time if you have time to nitpick on someone else's comments in an off topic manner?

      The original comment was probably went to a score 5 faster than any other comments I have made, and even my response to the first grammar comment got modded up so go ahead. Call me names. I won't lose any sleep over it.

      --
      Dual Opteron < $600
    4. Re:I hate to be the grammar Nazi here... by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      I think it would be better to be a dumbass than to be a queef stain anal about grammar.

    5. Re:I hate to be the grammar Nazi here... by DMUTPeregrine · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Why do you, and the gp, keep, putting in, so many unnecessary commas? Do you type a comma when you get back to /.?

      --
      Not a sentence!
  4. Re:More like they dodged a bullet. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Sorry for the off topic, but why do you sign your username? We already see it.

  5. Re:Is this good? by apoc.famine · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Wow. This thread is rushing to a singularity of suckage. I will now turn my back on this monster.

    --
    Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor