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Ellison Doesn't Know If Java Is Free

Posted by Soulskill on from the it-is-except-where-it-isn't dept.

New submitter Emacs.Cmode sends this excerpt from CNet: "Among the highlights emanating from U.S. District Court in San Francisco courtroom 8 today was Oracle CEO Larry Ellison's response to a question regarding the status of the Java programming language, which his company acquired when it bought Sun Microsystems in 2010. Asked by Google's lead attorney, Robert Van Nest, if the Java language is free, Ellison was slow to respond. Judge William Alsup pushed Ellison to answer with a yes or no. As ZDNet reporter Rachel King observed in the courtroom, Ellison resisted and huffed, 'I don't know.'" Groklaw has a good write-up about what happened during day one of the trial and a briefer summary of what happened on day two.

7 of 393 comments (clear)

  1. It's actually because... by XDirtypunkX · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's actually because Larry couldn't understand the word "free" in the context of an Oracle product.

  2. WWSD? by identity0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    What would Stallman testify to?

    "You see, when we say 'Free', we mean not just free as in cost, but Free as in Freedom, or as we sometimes say, 'libre software'. This means that software which does not place restrictions on the develope-"
    "Yes or no, Mr. Stallman?"
    "Well, your honor, to be Free Software means that one follows the guidelines of the Free Software Foundation-"
    "Yes or no, Mr. Stallman?"
    "To be technically be Free, Java would have to-"
    "Yes or no, Mr. Stallman?"
    "I'd just like to interject for a mo-"
    "The court finds the witness to be guilty... I don't know how, but he is somehow."

  3. Let's be fair by MrEricSir · · Score: 3, Funny

    Let's be fair here, Ellison isn't a rich out of touch moron, he just hasn't caught up on work lately because he's too busy working on his yacht racing. And it's an uphill battle. He even had to pay another team to race against him in a race that he's paying for.

    --
    There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
  4. Re:Good answer by symbolset · · Score: 3, Funny

    You were warned.

    --
    Help stamp out iliturcy.
  5. Larry Ellison and Tim Geithner walk into a bar... by srussia · · Score: 3, Funny

    They order two martinis. The guy behind the bar pours them two Budweisers.

    "This martini is great," rave Larry and Timmy, "what's your secret?"

    "I dunno, the bartender went out to get some cigarettes, I'm just the owner."

    --
    Set your phasers on "funky"!
  6. Re:MAD. by Shoe+Puppet · · Score: 4, Funny

    Google might get a huge kick in the garbage over Dalvik, Oracle might get a huge kick in the refuse over whether or not...

    That doesn't sound any better.

    --
    (+1, Disagree)
  7. Re:Free? by Black+Parrot · · Score: 3, Funny

    IIRC there was a story a few years back that Larry had bought a new, smaller boat because it was too difficult to find places to park the old one in some countries.

    Well, he should just buy bigger countries.

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade