The JVM as a Common Platform?

I see that Sun is still not getting it at Java One. Via Simon Phipps comes this statement from Jonathan Schwartz's keynote:

The threshold that we call someone a developer, is going to be dropped significantly ... Sun have historically treated the developer with respect. Giving them the attention and kudos they solely craved. Java developers are real developers; they don't want to be labelled with the Microsoft VB/Marco crowd. Sun will have to be very careful in how they are going to take this forward without alienating and devaluing the current developer base

This comes in the context of talking about expanding the base of Java developers. That's just brilliant - a call to attract mor people that calls the users f the most popular toolset "not real programmers". This is actually one of the many reasons I dislike Sun more than MS - they come across as far more arrogant. Simon believes that the answer is to expand the range of languages on the JVM:

My personal view is that the way to expand the developer community is not to 'drop the threshold' but rather to expand the range of languages that target the Java platform. That's why the discussion in this morning's keynote concerning the embrace of programming languages like PHP and Jython (Sean will be pleased!) is so important. PHP and Jython programming isn't dumbed-down - it's just the use of the tools that are fit for the job, and embracing a wider range of tools simply expands the scope rather than lowers the bar.

There are two problems with this:

• The JVM is just horrible for dynamic languages (Smalltalk, Lisp, et. al.). I suppose most of the Java elite doesn't care, but they should - interest iin dynamic languages seems to be increasing. Watch Sun continue to not get it here
• As Ted Leung points out, this many languages idiom is what MS is pushing. Ted says: One of the supposed benefits of Java is that there is only one language that you need to know