Sun reshuffle continues as another exec jumps ship

Sun Microsystems’ chief open-source officer, Simon Phipps, has become the latest executive to bid an emotional farewell to the company.

Phipps is the third high-profile departure from Sun since Oracle’s $7.4 billion takeover was finalised in January, and the latest to announce his departure in a contemplative and sentimental blog post.

“I am a few months short of my 10th anniversary [at Sun]… I hope you’ll forgive a little reminiscence,” Phipps explained on his blog, before listing the achievements he was most proud of.

These included getting “some of the most important software in the computer industry released under Free licenses”, the Open Document Format and changing Sun’s attitude to open-source.

But Phipps wistfully admits those achievements were partially in vain. “I’m sad that, despite the success of the open-source software businesses, it still wasn’t enough to rescue Sun in the end,” he said. “But overall, I am amazed and humbled to see what the open source team at Sun has achieved.”

Phipps didn’t specify why he had chosen to leave the company. He follows former CEO Jonathan Schwartz and co-founder Scott McNealy, who both left the company earlier this year.

Schwartz departed with an abstract haiku on Twitter, while Sun founder McNealy sent a sentimental memo to the company’s staff.