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Sun To Choose GPL For Open-Sourcing Java

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the open-'er-up dept.

An anonymous reader writes, "Sun is about to announce its plans for open-sourcing Java SE and ME, according to CRN — and they're going to use the GPL, not their own CDDL or another less-restrictive license."

5 of 407 comments (clear)

  1. GPL2 or 3? by EmbeddedJanitor · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Next fight: which version?

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    Engineering is the art of compromise.
  2. This will be super cool. by WhiteWolf666 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Imagine Java not as a plugin, but as part of your browser.

    Better; part of your browser that _cannot_ be integrated into non-GPL browsers. They still have to run it as a plugin.

    This has mind-boggling implications in terms of patents that apply only to browser plugins (ahem---Eolas).

    I've always wished for a Firefox with Java + Flash integrated (does that even make sense?). I don't feel that plugins give as good of an experience as native browser controls.

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    WhiteWolf666 an exBush supporter. All you new-school,compassionate,save the children Republicans can rot in hell
  3. Re:Too bad it's too late by pembo13 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Well, just to speak to the otherside - I hate C#, and I think its more than the fact that I typically have to be on a Windows machine to code it. I very much dislike some of the design choices made - my point being that C# is one of those subjective things (IT didn't help that every tiem I go to the C# irc channel I get yelled at)

    --
    "Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
  4. Re:GPL'ing Java will kill it by ldspartan · · Score: 3, Interesting

    How do the linking restrictions of the GPL apply to Java bytecode that isn't (by default, without a custom classloader, 99%+ of the time... etc.) traditionally linked as we think of it in C/C++ (and most other languages)?

    For those of you not familiar with it, Java goes hunting for all code at runtime based on the fully qualified (package + class) class name, and resolves methods and fields based on name as well... the code that gets executed at runtime can be completely different than the code compiled against, so long as the method signatures match. That's the crappy, its 11pm and I'm watching the daily show version.

    So if I distribute my non-GPL binaries, and GPL'd libraries seperately, am I in violation? What if I use Java WebStart and the user's client downloads the GPL'd libraries from their distribution site? And if I just distribute my binaries and make the user hunt out the GPL'd libraries on their own?

    I'm honestly curious.

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    Phil

  5. Re:w00t! by caluml · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It's better than wolfbagging. I'd never heard of it, and looked it up on Urban Dictionary - and wished I hadn't.

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