Ex-Sun CEO ponders autobiography

Jonathan Schwartz, Sun Microsystems' chief executive until January, has accelerated the pace of his public communications from blogging to the even faster-twitch Twitter medium. But he's also considering slowing it down by writing a book.

"I'm thinking of writing a book about my experiences as Sun's CEO (will not be in haiku). What would you like to read about?" Schwartz asked in a tweet on Monday.

(Credit: Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)

The haiku comment refers to Schwartz's parting tweet as Sun CEO, in which he blamed the economy for the fact that Sun was acquired by Oracle rather than remaining independent: "Financial crisis/Stalled too many customers/CEO no more."

A number of suggestions for subject matter have arrived:

• "the decision and discussion and hand-wringing behind the Great Open Sourcing efforts (Java, Solaris, etc.)," from pholdings.

• "Would like to hear about boardroom discussions about research directions: any disagreements? & Thoughts on A.I.," from FriskyBoy.

• "how to balance community rules & philosophy with company duties & profitability," from danieledemauro.

• "I'd love to know 'all' about the transitional period between between Scott 'stepping' down and you taking over," from rudids.

As Sarah Palin and countless other authors have found, autobiographies are a great opportunity to present personal history in a flattering light--and Schwartz has demonstrated skills in framing debates to his advantage. If a book comes to pass, let's hope that there's a healthy dose of reality in there, too.