14 years at Sun/Oracle gave me some excellent friendships and I plan and hope to stay connected with them. This made the farewell from Oracle last week very emotional.

To begin with, here is a limerick created by a wonderful friend:

A long time ago while at Sun,
I met a young man, full of fun.
I watched in delight
As he took off in flight
And circled the globe on a run.

The talks that he gave were fantastic.
And his passion, enthusiastic.
He loved Java EE
And shared it with glee
With geeks from RedHat and Jelastic.

Arun, we are just a bit blue,
And for certain, we’re gonna miss you.
But the future’s wide open,
And you’ve said, and I’m hopin’ …
You have “miles to go” ‘fore you’re through!

Thank you Alexandra for this! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed our friendship all these years and it truly means a lot to me.

Completely blessed with all the wishes received on twitter …

Blogged: So long Oracle …: … and thanks for all the fish! This Friday (October 18, 2013) is my last day a… http://t.co/vclDMgEnO8

— Arun Gupta (@arungupta) October 17, 2013

Just want to call out some of them …

@noah_white: Congrats on the new position, good luck and keep on advocating EE!
@jjviana: Wow, this news is sure to rock the Java world. All the best in your new adventures Arun!
@majabali: tremendous loss for us at Oracle but all the best with your new “Hat”
@pbakker: That’s great news for my friends at RedHat. Best of luck with your new position!
@svenpet: You did a great job at Oracle! #RedHat is lucky
@BertErtman: congrats on the new job Arun! Thanks for all you’ve done at Oracle. What a gain for Red Hat!
@Sander_Mak: wow, that’s exciting news. Good luck at Red Hat!
@vsenger: sad *= 100000000000.
@IanSkerrett: Wow congratulations. Red Hat is a great company and definitely lucky to have you.
@yoshioterada: Arun-san Thank You so much!! I’m very glad to work with You.
@stevengharris: Wow, great catch by Red Hat. Enjoy the change!
@jenseckels: You will definitely be missed, friend. Take good care
@johanvos: Good luck, thanks for all your work on Glassfish, and enjoy your miles!
@MKHeck: RH got one of the best on the planet. Congrats to all involved!
@hazems: We had really enjoyed your great contributions in the Java EE space. Have the best of luck in your new journey.
@sjmaple: congratulations man! RedHat are very lucky to have you enjoy your new role and challenges!
@vsenger: I never met someone else more committed with a company than @arungupta. He is a working machine. Big lost for Oracle and us!
@sivalabs: congratulations to RedHat for having such a gr8 man
@sharat_chander: Congrats to @arungupta for joining #RedHat. Wishing you continued success in making the future #Java.
@lucasjellema: I’m a litle sad to see @arungupta leave Oracle. Wishing him all the best at RedHat. I am sure Java EE will continue to benefit from him
@pvdevoor: Have fun @redhat You did a fantastic and inspiring job all these years!
@peppertech: #JavaEE couldn’t have a better ambassador and now #RedHat is better for having you in their employ. Big Congrats!
@rajashridash: While Oracle will miss you, RedHat will be cherished. We still will get your updates

and many more!

I’m just changing companies but the commitment to Java or Java EE is not going to be less in any sense. You’ll hear the latest and greatest about different Red Hat technologies and products.

Please come and meet where ever you see me. I’ve always been very accessible and will continue to keep it that way. Luxmbourg JUG, JAX London, JFall, Transylvania JUG, and Devoxx are coming up soon. Hope to see you there!

And finally a wrap up:

And that's a wrap! Bye bye @Oracle and hello @RedHatSoftware. pic.twitter.com/TmkMCaAdrE

— Arun Gupta (@arungupta) October 18, 2013

Many thanks to @mwessendorf, @nmcl, @lightguardjp, @aslakknutsen, @maxandersen, @AlRubinger, @anilsaldhana, @lazarotti, @mpiech, @nmcl, @gegastaldi, @msfm, @neugens, @antoine_sd, @lincolnthree, @heiko_braun, and several others for a warm welcome to Red Hat.

Now looking forward to start with the new hire orientation tomorrow!