Apache, Sun Come To Terms On Open Source Java

rbeattie writes: "This morning at JavaOne it was announced during the keynote that Sun and Apache have come to an agreement securing the basic right to implement Java specifications in open source. Apache actually went as far as issuing a Press Release about it with information about the agreement. One of the cool things is that Sun actually agreed not only to change various licenses and contracts, release the testing code, but also to let qualifying non-profit open source groups use their 1800 support number while testing." (This is a followup to this earlier story indicating that such an agreement had been reached.)

Comments

will this improve free JRE's ?

[soopurman]

do you think this will have any effect on open source (free as in speech) java run time environments for desktop end users?

Good News

[4of12]

This shows that Sun is getting to be either a little bit more courageous about letting go of its tight grip on Java, or that it is getting enlightened about the best long term policy is towards Java.

This will help Java overall in the long term and is an important step for them if they ever hope to be able to battle the instant ubiquity that Microsoft .NET will get on rollout as part of what is called Windows.

It's a brave move, because the Apache folks provide a useful open source Java web platform that is less expensive than many commercial offerings. But this allows developers to get their feet wet without a cost barrier. Sun can focus on adding true value, such as more performance, nice IDEs, etc. that developers will want once they get established doing JSP.