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On the Horizon: an Apache-License Version of Java

Posted by timothy on from the better-definition-of-trusted-computing dept.

mparaz writes "Geir Magnusson of the Apache Software Foundation announced a J2SE 5 implementation project called 'Harmony.' It covers the virtual machine and the class libraries, and aims to pass the Sun specification. A FAQ is available."

3 of 268 comments (clear)

  1. Not GPL compatible by petteri_666 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Seems that Harmony will be licenced under Apache License v2.0 so it will not be GPL compatible. So once again Java will not be usable in the free world. Sad to hear.

  2. Divide and Conquer by mfearby · · Score: -1, Troll

    Great. Just what we need. More JVMs than you could poke a stick at! I can imagine the state of Java programming becoming much like the nightmare that is co-called "cross-platform" C/C++. No thanks, guys. Stop wasting your time re-inventing the wheel to satisfy your holier-than-thou licensing fetishes. Do something useful, like stripping the bloat from what has become the great mess that is "desktop Linux", and maybe even standardising it!

  3. A word of warning by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll
    The common theme among many of the Jakarta / Apache Java projects is that they are manned by people who produce overly complex software. Software that becomes brittle because of its complexity. They've managed to make a few things that actually work, but for the most part, the more ambitious stuff is rubbish because it is so hard to use and debug.

    Are we going to have whole J2SE toolkits now that are made like these? Are we going to have a class library that looks so horrible it can only remind you of the excrement that is GNU libc?

    Please, if you participate in this project make simplicity of design your most important design principle. If an idea cannot be conveyed with just a few words, it is not a good one. Keep this in mind, please.

    Not everything that is free is necessarily good. Especially not when the price you pay is your time.