Slashdot Mirror
Sun To Choose GPL For Open-Sourcing Java
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."
You cannot GPL Java, if you do, then ***ALL*** the business applications
that are created using Java will have to ***PAY*** a license fee to use it.
PERIOD.
That's BAD news..... REALLY BAD NEWS!
Think ***Trolltech Qt***.
The LGPL license would be much better.
Because the GPL mentions certain limitations on linking, specifically, anything linked with GPL code is considered a derivative work of the code and is therefore subject to the copy restrictions placed on the original work (ie that derivative works must be placed under the GPL to be distributed), with basically everything written in Java linking to its runtime, anything written in it is automatically considered a derivative work and would therefore also be subject to the GPL, destroying virtually all commercial value in Java development.
The LGPL would be far more appropriate.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
OK, I'm not a programmer for money, although I do program in the course of my job. I'm a sysadmin. I frequently have to deal with Java(tm)(c)(r)(we0wnz0rj00)(yhbhhand) in the form of its virtual machines (various flavours) and programs written in it. I see how the platform performs in real life. In addition, this is nothing new. I have been watching Java since '95, and working with it since '96.
... maybe we can't. Obviously Bill Joy disagrees.
... no. I have yet to see a JVM that could handle 10000 concurrent threads. If you want real parallelism, look elsewhere.
...)
... and even so, in every single java implementation I have seen, the most robust enterprise platforms can suddenly stop ... and pause ... and wait ... for ... minutes ... while ... garbage ... collecting. And people keep using this piece of crap for enterprise programming. I'm breathtaken. Just breathtaken.
And the problem is not how open it is. The problem is that it sucks.
Yes, heresy, Java sucks. Explanation follows.
First: the syntax is pretty darned terrible. I know, it's not as bad as APL (a language in which I've actually written, and which I rather enjoyed), but Java wastes a lot of time and space dealing with various cases of scoping in objects, and for heaven's sake, can't we all agree that curly brackets are a waste of space?
Second: So we close our eyes to the syntax. It's an OO language. OOP was an over-eager development on modular programming, which has yet to deliver on any one of its astonishing '80's-era claims of efficiency. Has it become more efficient in practice? Sure. So has any other methodology since then. It's conceptual overhead at best, and I have yet to see a single convincing reason for binding code and data to each other. One operates on the other... oh well. The OOP borg will crush or assimilate me, I'm sure.
Third: Fine, no problem in syntax nor semantic structure. I have yet to see a JVM that was not a disgusting memory hog. Java rivals Oracle for chewing up huge servers and picking its teeth with the bones. And what do you get for that? Hundreds of thousands of threads active?
Fourth: Write once! Run Anywhere! (Some restrictions may apply, warranty subject to conditions, see store for details, some assembly required, no batteries included
Fifth: OK, so you have unlimited RAM, you don't care about OOP snake oil nor syntactic nonsense, you are running on one consistent platform
It's a slow, bitchy piece of shit. No wonder hardware makers love it. Just like Oracle. Drag up your beefiest machine, and after Java and Oracle, it's toast. Buy ten more!
My only hope is that GPLing this steaming pile will result in a memory-tight, CPU-polite, on-the-fly-GCing racehorse. It did the same for Gnome and KDE, right?
Right, fellas?
Fellas?
omg, wtf are you doing dude? You're posting fucking a geekass post on slashdot in the middle of the night. Seriously dude, discover teh alcohol. It does wonders...