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Will Sun's Java Go Open Source?

Posted by samzenpus on from the take-a-peek dept.

Ritalin16 writes "CNet report that Sun Microsystems wants to send Java closer to the open-source world, yet keep it safe from harm. "Project Peabody" adds two licenses that make it easier for outsiders to see the code. But Sun stops short of embracing open-source. Sun's licensing practices for Java are closely watched. Proponents of making Java open-source argue that a different license and development process will help accelerate usage of Java, which faces ongoing competition from Web open-source scripting tools, such as PHP, and Microsoft's .Net line of tools."

4 of 519 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Already ditched by mabinogi · · Score: 5, Informative

    OutputStream out = new FileOutputStream(filename);

    next?

    (yes, I know it's still more typing than python, and I know you were tying to be funny, but Java really isn't that much work)

    --
    Advanced users are users too!
  2. GJC by lokedhs · · Score: 5, Informative
    Well, the compiler itself it quite good, and actually manages to create code that runs faster than Sun's VM on occations. Last I looked, however, the Sun VM is faster overall, since it can do stuff like inlining virtual methods, which a static compiler is unable to do.

    However, the biggest problem with the GNU compiler is the lack of compliant class libraries. The GNU Classpath project, which aims at creating an open source cleanroom implementation of the Sun class libraries are severely behind. My optimistic guesstimate would place them at being about 3 years from full 1.5 compatibility, at which time we're probably using the beta of 1.7.

    However, GNU Classpath has an easier job ahead of them than the Mono folks, which begs the question as to why they chose to go with the Microsoft technology in the first place.

  3. Re:gcj is nice by k98sven · · Score: 5, Informative

    I'm curious - does the new Fedora actually ship with gcj and gij as 'Java'? That will be an interesting development to watch.

    Actually, yes. Red Hat has actually aliased 'java' to them in the default install for quite some time now.

    The more interesting thing is that FC4 will for the first time include natively-compiled Java packages. And not just any packages, but Eclipse and Apache Tomcat.

  4. You can't study Sun's code to learn from it by DaliborTopic · · Score: 5, Informative
    You can even study Sun's source code to learn general concepts for your own project as opposed to just "lifting" it.
    No you can't. Read the fine license, in particular the definition of Modifications in SCSL 2.3. Sun claims copyright on any code independently implementing any portion of the SCSL-licensed technology *if* you agree to their license. So please don't look at their code if you intend to contribute to free runtimes in the future. It's the same as Microsoft's Shared Source in a different wrapping. cheers, dalibor topic