When James Gosling led the team that created the Java language and platform, Sun Microsystems was riding high and Java stood as a landscape-changing revolutionary technology, but financial realities eventually brought Sun to its knees and Oracle entered in as a potential savior–saying all the right things, but behind the scenes, as far as Gosling was concerned, doing all the wrong ones.
Gosling’s creation of Java is a feat that many would assume demands a modicum of respect. Instead, Gosling says all he got was the opposite from Oracle. In an exclusive interview with CIO Insight sister publication eWEEK, Gosling shares why he left Oracle and what he thinks of the company’s stewardship of his creation going forward. He tells tales of an organization low-balling key employees and cutting off at the knees projects and strategies Sun had put into play.
"My ability to decide anything at Oracle was minimized," Gosling said. "Oracle is an extremely micromanaged company. So myself and my peers in the Java area were not allowed to decide anything. All of our authority to decide anything evaporated."
Gosling says the final straw came when he realized that "My job seemed to be to get up on stage and be a public presence for Java for Oracle. I’m from the wrong Myers-Briggs quadrant for that," he said.
An Oracle spokeswoman said the company had no comment on Gosling’s claims.
For more read the eWeek article Java Creator James Gosling: Why I Quit Oracle.
