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Sun Unilaterally Revokes the FreeBSD Java License

Posted by CowboyNeal on

ravenII writes "The FreeBSD foundation has announced the news of Sun terminating the SCSL OEM-like license given to FreeBSD foundation. The foundation's attempts to contact Sun to renegotiate the license have gone unanswered. Javalobby.org also carries the news." It would seem that Sun has terminated all SCSL licenses across the board in preparation for the release of Java 5, and while the renegotiation process may be a bit bumpy, it's likely that Java will continue to be ported to FreeBSD.

2 of 186 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I never understood by urlgrey · · Score: 0, Troll

    Well, actually, no one understands the meaning of Java as far as Sun's marketing strategy (or any other) is concerned. ;-)

    --
    Running 'Nix is like owning a Lightsaber. It's "a more elegant weapon for a more civilized time."
  2. the message is still clear: can't rely on Java by jeif1k · · Score: 0, Troll

    Whether Sun did this intentionally or not, it still illustrates the situation surrounding Java on open platforms perfectly: Sun can revoke the license that lets you run Java on Linux or FreeBSD or anywhere else at any time. Furthermore, whether Sun actually intends to do so or not, it can happen for reasons beyond their control. If it isn't "dropping the ball", they may get acquired, they may go out of business, or they may decide that killing Java for Linux is suddenly in their best business interest.

    The upshot of it all is: you're taking a big risk you make a significant investment in Java on any platform other than Solaris.