Andreesen No Longer AOL CTO

j_hylton writes "Reuters reports that Marc Andreessen is stepping dow as CTO of AOL. See the report at The Washington Post (and surely elsewhere). Sun's chief strategist will replace him, which is another sign of the growing cooperation between the two companies." The story says, "Andreessen will shift to become a part-time strategic advisor focused on boosting the Dulles, Va.-based company's investment activities."

Comments

Whos Idea was this

[weloytty]

I will be interested to find out whether or not this was marca's idea or Steve Case's.
I always wondered what kind of fit the Netscape ubergeek would be at AOL--it seemed somehow out of place, like if Linus Torvalds were to go work at Microsoft (well, maybe not THAT out of place--but you get my drift)

Musical chairs

[evilpenguin]

Do a little dance. Make a little love. Get down tonight!

The last two weeks of managment shuffles have looked like a soap opera. SGI to MS, Sun to AOL, AOL to, er, wherever... Is it possible that all of these executives changing positions all at once could put enough stress on the San Andreas to finally trigger "The Big One?" Maybe we should get a map out, find the headquarters of these companies, and calculate the torques?

Being briefly serious, does anyone think this might bode ill for Mozilla?

A Magic Crystal Ball...

[Ryandav]

Could be required to see through the market-ese and figure out what precisely this is...

Is this a lateral movement, intended to just shift resources to a new area, or is this a demotion of sorts? (I can't hardly imagine it as a promotion...) Or is this Marc just starting to let up a little and enjoy a few of his millions? (part time position was mentioned)

Sometimes it's so hard to see through the market-speek!

Does it sounds like the death bell for Netscape?

[jelwell]

Is Sun really in a strategic alliance with AOL? It seems like a very good corporate policy for AOL to replace it's online suite with a Linux backend. An entire AOL desktop without the need for microsoft or IE. It seems like Sun could give them the unix background to bring in interest in linux. And netscape might some day come out with a hard to beat 5.0 browser. With Linux, Netscape and ICQ AOL could be the next big network OS, AOLinux.

Then again, does AOL have an interest in seeing Microsoft's power weakened? I wonder what ties AOL has with Microsoft now. As far as I know IE is still their default browser. And then again AIM is still installed over ICQ.

I'm actually looking forward to the next major version of AOL - as it should contain software for my mother that I would be proud to run. AOL can only lose if they fail to produce their product fast enough. But isn't that just sad? It's a good thing that Netscape is open-sourced because it's main pressure is no longer timely releases - but excellent software.

Joseph Elwell.

Re:What has Andreeson really done?

[starman97]

Here's a link I scrounged up with google...
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:44025499&dq =cache:www.chrispy.net/marca/gqarticle.htm l

Re:Does it sounds like the death bell for Netscape

[avdp]

Hmmm.... Unlike companies like SGI, Sun is not and has never been a Linux advocate. In fact, eventhough Sun is very much part of the same Unix community as Linux, they have been saying some of the same stuff as M$ has about it. You have to remember, that Linux is much more a thread to Sun (and their Solaris) than it is to Microsoft. And it's not just in the OS business, if Solaris were to become obsolete (by Linux or another OS from Redmont), their (very lucrative) hardware business is also in jeopardy.

With that being said, I am in no way putting down their products - they are excellent (IMHO). I merely stating my interpretation on how Sun feels about Linux.

AOL might have cut this deal at merger time

[dave_aiello]

I have worked on the fringes of Corporate America for a long time, and this could have been the deal from the outset. AOL made this investment which hinged on everyone at Netscape not bailing out at once. They wanted to be in control and yet not be vilified for cutting the heart out of Netscape.

So, what they did was negotiated a deal where Barksdale would go almost immediately but stay on the Board of Directors, and Andreesen would stay for indefinitely in a fairly nebulous but senior role.

Now, sufficient time has passed where this is no longer on the public's RADAR screen. Sure, some will be interested, but most people won't see this as a big deal. After all, to the typical consumer, not much has changed. http://home.netscape.com/ is still there.

With respect to us (slashdot fans), many of us hadn't liked Netscape for a while anyway. We always suspected that Mozilla didn't have as much support as we would have liked. But, AOL hasn't actually killed it either.

I hope it doesn't make people mad to hear this (or to hear it again), but the AOL-Sun-Netscape deal wasn't about the browser anyway. Everyone knows that Micros~1 killed that market a while ago.

This was always about the servers -- not the SuiteSpot which are Netscape's basic server products. This is about the Xpert server series: PublishingXpert, CommerceXpert, etc. These are the Web-based workflow automation products that Netscape developed in a joint-venture with General Electric's EDI business. These are pound-for-pound the most valuable things that Netscape ever developed, from a commercial perspective.

So, if I am right in this analysis, I think that AOL, Sun, and the Netscape shareholders are getting what they wanted out of this deal. We shall see if it truly works to the competitive advantage of them all.

washingtonpost.com flooded?

[rkent]

Gee willakers! How come every site that gets a /. link goes the way of windows2000.com? i understand about segfault a few days ago, but the army and now the washingtonpost have gotten it. seems like these sites should be prepared for some high-volume traffic...

plus, are we /.ers really lemming enough to all follow the same link? It's an AP story; there's a copy at CNNfn and a copy at abcnews, too...

News flash...

[konstant]

AOL Figurehead Moved to Lobby

By Paige Turner
AP Technology Writer
Friday, September 10, 1999; 2:20 p.m. EDT

SAN JOSE, Calif. - America Online Inc. announced a shakeup today in its management ranks, announcing its intention to move figurehead Marc Andreessen, its visionary technology totem, into a glass case in the lobby.

AOL said in a statement from its Dulles, Va., headquarters that Andreessen, who has been founding Netscape professionally since 1994, would be more comfortable in his new location.

"Marc has expressed dissatisfaction with his ceremonial perch over the entrance to our boardroom," said AOL chief executive Steve Case. "We expect with this move we will be able to better serve Marc's career needs, such food, defecation, and petting."

AOL executives insist things have not changed substantially and that morale remains high.

"Marc is much happier in his new felt-lined glass enclosure," stated one handler. He is also on more prominent display here on the lobby, so that he can continue to inspire us all. Regrettably, the construction of Marc's cage renders him unable to make statements of a public nature."

Andreeson was not immediately available for comment. However, he was observed to write with blood on the interior of his cage the words, "Steve Case agrees with me that technology should be free. As a first step, I have recommended eliminating AOL's monthly ISP fees on a trial basis." Handlers covered Andreeson's box with a blanket soon afterwards.

Netscape, best known for its logo, is a leading provider of software and services for online businesses and the operator of NetCenter, a popular entry point to the World Wide Web. AOL is the largest Internet access provider and online service.

-konstant

"marca loves gotos"

[Tim Pierce]

I came across the most wonderful comment once in the source code for either Mosaic or Lynx. Slightly paraphrased:

"I put this goto here to make marca happy. marc loves gotos."

It just made my day. Sadly, I haven't been able to find it again since then.

Re:"marca loves gotos"

[Why2K]

This is actually a comment in Netscape's server-push animation sample code. You can view it here. For the impatient, here is the relevant section:


if(x == LASTCHAR) goto thats_it;
else ++x;
}

/* This goto is Marc's fault. Marc digs goto. */

thats_it:
exit (0);

Re:What has Andreeson really done?

[tjansen]

He did not write or design any code, but instead was the one who had the 'visions' for Netscapes future. For example, he was the first who understood that the Web could evolve into a platform of its own, and therefore be a thread to Microsoft. He also is responsible for the inclusion of Java, and before his Netscape days he lead the Mosaic project NCSA (code-wise). See the quite interresting book 'Speeding the net' by Joshua Quittner and Michelle Slatalla for more, or (shorter) 'Architects of the Web' by Robert Reid...

Off Topic "moderation error"

[Ken Broadfoot]

Dave, I screwed up and accidently moderated your response down. I meant to moderate it up and now I can't undo it.

I am sorry again.

Ken

netscape dead, AOL in control..

[mcc]

i am a mac user using Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0.

does this announcement mean i am officially freed from any guilt of supporting microsoft by using MSIE..? at least until icab supports javascript, or Mozilla is real..?

in my mind, Microsoft Guilt and AOL Guilt cancel each other out.. it just kind of feels like all the spirit and streetcred have gone out of the word "netscape".

-mcc-baka
[standards are dead]

Skill, timing, luck

[craw]

I've read many of the comments and have seen points made that Marc Andreessen (marca) is not a visionary, is over his head as CTO, etc... This pathetic. Marca had the good fortune to be at NCSA, but he was also smart enough to realize the potential of the web. Mosaic was good, very good. But netscape was awesome. I hope that most of you remember when you made the switch.

What makes one a visionary in the computer business? A bunch of "kids" at Stanford decide to take advantage of the new-fangled internet and form a company that is now a major force. Am I talking about Yahoo or Sun? Two guys in silicon valley put together a personal computer and sell it to their fellow nerds. Later, one of them brings the GUI to the masses (and later the personal laser printer). A computer uber-geek decides that software should be free so that the source code can be seen by everybody. A college student wants to work on unix at home, so he decides to create one that he can use. He then makes the source code available for all to see. A nerd in an obscure college in Michigan puts up a web site that caters to an obscure OS, and makes it a meeting place for fellow nerds.

So what makes one a visionary in the computer business. Skill? Timing? Luck?

BTW, there once was a person that was dumped by the company that started. At the time he was dumped it was said that he was not suitable to take that company into the future. This person name is Steve and he is back. The company is improving.

craw, now posting using no score.

Re:What has Linus really done?

[Eric Green]

What, being the head of the Linux project and still turning out good Linux code isn't enough for you?

Unlike MarcA, Linus still codes. 'Nuff said.

Re:Andressen actualy sucks....

[Eric Green]

The spurious lie about Andreeson running off with the Mosaic code is just that -- a lie.

The Mosaic code is still available from NCSA. The Mozilla code is still available at mozilla.org. Read the two. There's no real similarity.

Mozilla was very definitely a "second project" (the project that is supposed to be a total re-write "done right", but turns out to be a bloated mess -- read Brookes).

-E

Sigh, more MS weenie work...

[Eric Green]

I have the Bach book. The internals of Linux do not resemble the Bach book, except in broad strokes. For example, Linux dynamically adjusts the percentage of memory used for programs and file cache, while the Bach Book explains the rationale used by SysV to have a static partition there. Similarly, the file systems described by the two are totally different. But both the Linux source code and the Bach book do describe a monolithic kernel, is that what you were talking about?

Yeah, Linus hacks other contributors' code too, but that's part of being project lead.

IMHO, you either a) don't know what you're talking about, b) are working for the Microsoft "smear Linux" team, or c) all of the above.

-E