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Open source Java?
Bruce writes "Newsforge is reporting that Java 2 Standard Edition, may soon be set free of Sun Microsystems' notoriously complicated licensing. A group of 12 Apache developers have put together a proposal called Harmony. The proposal appeared as a simple project call last Friday on an Apache incubator mailing list. It would make this new, built-from-the-ground-up version of Java available under the Apache 2.0 free software license. And it's causing quite a stir in the Java community, especially since respected Sun frontmen Tim Bray, Simon Phipps, and Graham Hamilton have given the project their blessing. As yet there has been no reaction from Dr. Java, James Gosling himself, who is in Brazil talking to developers. In a FAQ on the Apache site, Harmony project leader Geir Magnusson Jr. wrote: 'We believe that there is broad community interest in coming together to create and use an open source, compatible implementation of J2SE 5, the latest version of the Java 2 Standard Edition specification. While the Java Community Process has allowed open source implementations of JSRs for a few years now, Java 5 is the first of the J2SE specs that we are able to do due to licensing reasons.'"
Why start from scratch? It this simply because the Apache folks don't like the GPL?
If the JVM is licensed under the Apache license, which is incompatible with the GPL, does that mean that you cannot use this with GPLed Java software?
Famous Last Words: "hmm...wikipedia says it's edible"
Why does this attempt get so much attention? There are plenty of existing attempts at getting a free java, why does apache feel the need to start a new one?
I am trolling
This is not embarassing. It's news that is good enough to repeat.
I can't wait for Java to be fully open source so I can gut it and re-release it how I would like to see it written. Can't wait.
The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
At least he hasnt deleted this one, my comment history has a number of comments in it that lead nowhere because Zonk deletes stories and comments. Talk about breaking the referential integrety of slashdot :(
Didn't Sun and Kodak have some patent dispute over Java a while ago where Kodak won. What risks would this Apache projects involve with respect to Kodak patents?
God is REAL! Unless explicitly declared INTEGER
Cuz then those of us who use Java on Mac OS/X might finally have a faint chance of timely access to new Java releases, and JREs that aren't threaded thru with tripwires and platform-specific bugs that don't seem to be fixed very quickly.
The fact of the matter is that there are certain of Sun's terms that don't suit the business model or philosophy of other parties. Harmony will provide a way to provide a version of Java that is compatible with those interests.
I'm a power user that doesn't need support for my operating system, so there's no reason to buy the boxed versions other than to provide financial support to the vendor or to acquire software the distribution is prohibited from providing for free download due to licensing restrictions -- like Java. It doesn't make sense to pay to get something free.
Kaffe and GCJ don't cut it because they are not completely compatible to the spec and their performance is woeful compared to Sun's JVM, let alone JRockit or J9. This will provide a version of Java that distro vendors and others can bundle with their products on terms compatible with their licenses, business models, or other philosophical beliefs.
What typically happens is that some company has a neat idea for an embedded device. But they quickly find that the Java applications they want there won't fly because Java isn't supported on the hardware they were planning to use. They either have to fall back to a different CPU (which is usually more expensive), or pay a lot just to put Java on the CPU. Or go with C/C++ for their applications.
x86 and PPC are simply not the entire embedded world. There are many other superb (and cheaper) solutions out there, in this space. And no, Java support is far from prevalent on MIPS processors, despite what MIPS might try to claim. I know, as I've been there.
Please keep in mind that there are far more embedded CPUs around than there are PCs or Servers. So there is a clear need for Java, if it were available in this space. But it's not. gcc however, usually is, fortunately.
If Java were indeed Open Sourced, it just might be as popular as gcc is in the embedded space. Until then, people in the embedded space have far more flexibility by going with C/C++ than with Java.
The best way to predict the future is to create it. - Peter Drucker.
Number one in the low number of exploits. How many J2ME worms are out there? How many Java applet hijacks are reported each year? Close to zero, if not zero.
Also, there are plenty of benchmarks showing Java is as fast or faster than C and C++ on large datasets and long-running applications, when the environment initialization isn't a hit on performance.
Java isn't perfect, but it is so complete that it would be easier to use than most alternatives. While Python is certainly gaining traction, Lisp quickly becomes non-portable once the project is large enough (contrary to popular belief).
I don't know so much about the apache license, but anyway, not everyone wants GPL you know. I for sure don't. First because I can't look into someones code, "borrow" some implementation and use my code for whatever. Secondly if all computer software was GPLed how would any programmers earn their money? Donations? Code stuff for money because the functionality aren't there in the first place?
Did anyone else read this as, "java gods declare sun evil, fork and establish new and open authority to replace them?"
Something about the overall tone seemed to imply that they weren't just writing an implementation, but intended it to supercede Sun's closed implementation.
Sounds good really.