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I can't help but wonder why Google is apparently willing to spend $6B on Groupon, but wasn't willing to spend roughly the same to secure a significant portion of the intellectual property assets that Google is heavily dependent upon.

Is Groupon really as or more valuable than Sun to Google?

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Good observation. Yes, it makes sense, because Google is a media company, and not a technology company like many people think.

I would say Google is an advertising company instead of media company, but the sentiment is the same.

Google is a company that extracts revenue by automating everything that can possibly be automated. That's why they're much better at self-driving cars than customer support.

It seems clear that one large part of the equation for Oracle was being able to sue Google to recoup the cost. This obviously doesn't work well for Google. In addition, Google doesn't have a stellar history of integrating acquisitions (it has had a tough time with youtube), and I can't imagine they thought it prudent to try to integrate Sun.

Still, it is a nice dream, isn't it?

youtube was explicitly allowed to remain separate.

YouTube was thriving as a company when Google bought them. Sun was floundering. A hands-off approach works better when a thriving company buys another thriving company.

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