Red Hat Plans Open Source Java

sthiyaga writes "According to a ComputerWire article, Red Hat is in discussions with Sun about launching an open source version of the Java platform. 'There's always been an interest in an open source implementation of Java developed in a clean room that adheres to the Java standards,' Szulik told ComputerWire. 'We're in discussions with Sun. We'd like to do this with their support.'"

Comments

4 effects of official (L)GPL JVM implementation

[ihatesco]

Effect number one:
Bring Gnome (which is part of Sun's "Madhatter Project" for a modern unified desktop) back under Sun's direct control.

Effect number two:
A complete j2ee free-speech webserver installation online in under two hours.

Effect number three:
???

Effect number four:
PROFIT! :D
(or at least a major headache in Redmond).

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Please note that the Java Community Process controls the standard. Of course Sun is a major player in it, but its standards are published, stable, and you know that your code is still going to work in three years or more. Something that doesn't happen when you code in some strange languages. :)

If anyone is going to make a virtual machine platform which takes the general design of Java, adds 3 opcodes to the platform, removes parts of the core libraries and replaces them with optional APIs and ships the platforms as "Java", Sun is going to sue his ass off.
Sun is already strong on the lawsuit against Microsoft.
Microsoft back then tried to replace java access to native machine features - jni - with a Microsoft proprietary library accessing activex objects, and java remote invocation process - rmi, based on Corba's IOOP - with another library based on COM+...
Sun demonstrated that Microsoft was wrong, and then won the lawsuit... the outcome however (barring the monetary reimbursement part) was ludicrous.

At least now we Java Programmers are programming in REAL JAVA, which works REALLY on different platforms, and not something that remembers unportable C/C++ for the splintering and fragmentation between platforms, compilers and coding styles.

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No, I don't want to start a Java vs C/C++ flamewar.
Java is a tool suited for some works.
C/C++ are two other tools suited for other works.