Since HP CEO Carly Fiorina quit last month, there’s been the usual Some-Bigwig-CEO-Position-Is-Now-Available speculation as to who might take the reins. In a previous blog I mulled the idea that former HP president and Compaq CEO Michael Capellas might take the post once he’s sold MCI to Qwest or Verizon.

Other names that have been mooted for the HP CEO post include Ed Zander at Motorola (a genius, but he probably still has unfinished business there) and Anne Mulcahy at Xerox, another female leader after Fiorina, but possibly overly biased towards HP’s printing business?

My suggestion? How about Sun’s president and COO, Jonathan Schwartz? He may be waiting for McNealy to step aside from the CEO position, but that could be a long wait. Besides, Sun will always be McNealy’s baby.

Schwartz may have been rather critical of HP of late, but then he probably has some good ideas for change, too. He knows big systems vendors, is a sprightly 38 years old, and is a well-known and dynamic figure within the industry. The only pre-requisite for him getting the HP CEO position, in my mind, is that he cuts off his ponytail. It may be a bit hip at Sun, but the HP elders are unlikely to be amused.