I’ve held Sun in somewhat low regard for a long time, since before Java was even introduced. I’m eager for Sun to succeed for various reasons, but overall, I’ve lacked confidence in the company, due in no small part to Scott McNealy’s fixation on Microsoft and his sophomoric comments over the years. Anyway, I’ve been shocked at how quickly my perception of Sun has changed since they hired Tim Bray. First of all, the simple fact that they hired him showed a greater level of cluefulness than I would have given them credit for, and second, the things he’s said about Sun since he was hired inspire confidence. At a time when some people are calling on Sun to simply shut its doors, having a guy on the inside talk about the good things going on at the company is extremely valuable.