Partnering with a vengeance!

Today's news, reported by Gregg Keiser, Computerworld, is that Sun Microsystems ZFS file system will replace Apple's HFS+ file system in Mac OS X Leopard. Is that the sound of the other shoe dropping? Last month's news was that Sun Microsystems dedicated two software engineers to work full time porting OpenOffice to the Mac. Together, that's like an Ali Shuffle followed by a one-two combination. It can't be coincidence. Purely Speculational.

The Mac's survival has always been dependent on Microsoft Office, and Apple has always been dependent on Microsoft. I speculate that Apple has never openly contributed to the OpenOffice project so as not to antagonize Microsoft. Now it appears that Apple has licensed ZFS from Sun, and in return Sun is openly contributing to an Aqua native port (carbon) of Open Office. Can you say Rope-A-Dope? Jobs and Company have moved from Partnering 101 to the Honors Course.

Sun CEO spills Apple Leopard secret
Sun Microsystems joins porting effort for OpenOffice.org for Mac