I think Microsoft is really the only acquirer where language/platform choice would matter. They're the only acquirers that have a real stake in the success of a particular language.
Even still, they bought Hotmail, who was using FreeBSD.
Even still, they bought Hotmail, who was using FreeBSD.
Plus, Sun isn't really a big dog in the acquisition game.
"Sun isn't really a big dog in the startup acquisition game."
MySQL wasn't a startup.
1) Hardware
2) Giant
3) Enterprisey
None of which are very applicable to the original question, which is about web software startups.
You must have read a different question than I did. The original post mentions "startups", not "web software startups". Many News.YC readers are building things that Sun would find interesting, so I think Sun's acquisition history is relevant to our interests here at News.YC.
DTrace continues to blow my mind.