In summary, open source Java is fine, open source almost-Java is not.
If you make a derivation/fork with the open source Java code Oracle only extends patent grants if your fork passes Oracle's expensive certification tests for Java. This certification is impractical for most people or organizations and is inherently impossible for anybody who is interested in making a new language with the code or adapting some of the code for other purposes.
In summary:
an alternative open source Java is quite difficult because the of the costs of certification
use the open source Java codebase for anything else and Oracle can sue you for patent violations
contributing to Oracle's existing OpenJDK codebase is fine
We've been working for the last year developing a handheld application to
support student science investigation in schools. The idea is to have
students do experiments, collect and analyze data using sensors connected
to the handheld, and to be able to share the data among themselves and the
teacher.
The computer is used to display, analyze, organize, and communicate data
collected from the physical world around the student. A real-time display
of sensor data in graphical form is an excellent science learning tool.
Here are some of the advantages of handhelds in this situation.
1) Portability. Many investigations do not take place on a lab bench
but may instead be on the floor, out in the hallway, in the gym or outdoors.
It is inconvenient to move a laptop around and completely impractical to
move a desktop. It is tremendously powerful to have the display and
analysis capacities of a computer while doing an investigation.
2) Cost. It is much cheaper to buy 15 handhelds rather than 15 laptops.
It is also cheaper to replace a handheld when it is broken.
3) Collaboration. It is easy to beam data and text directly from one system
to another.
There are many for advantages for using computers in these types of learning
environments but since they are true for both handhelds and larger system
I won't list them here.
To be more practical for kids and in schools handhelds need to be much more
robust and synching a group of palms needs to be much easier. There
are many practical classroom management issues.
I've played with two Palms with bluetooth cards and they communicated easily
out to about 20 feet. When this is either built-in or a cheap add-on
collaboration and synching will be much easier.
Our application CCProbe supports sensor-based visualization and analysis
along with a Lab Notebook for saving and communicating probe data and views.
Written in Waba and available under the GPL it runs on PalmOS, WinCE, PocketPC,
Windows, MacOS Classic, MacOS X, and Linux. For more information about
our software, interface and probes check out CCProbeware.
Page through the following site if you are interested in a middle school
curriculum using handhelds for middle-school science investigations into
force and motion and energy transformations Technology Enhanced Elementary and Middles
School Science.
We are developing an open source application we call CCProbe which combines tools for collecting and analyzing sensor data with the capability to display these and other objects (images, drawings, notes, etc...) in a compound document structure similar to a html page. Our application is written in Waba, an open-source java-like language specifically developed for handhelds.
We have CCProbe running on PalmOS, PocketPC, Windows, MacOS, MacOSX, and Linux.
On the Palm we compile the waba class files to 68000 machine code with WabaJump. The speed is suprizingly good, as fast as the interpreted version running on an iPaq. Our application is 750k on the Palm. On full-size OSes we run the waba classes on top of a Java VM.
It is a federal crime to lie to an FBI agent at any time. And of course you are not the person determining whether what you say is a lie. If you say something that can be misinterpreted as a lie then you open yourself up to serious charges. It may be best not to talk at all.
I think this is an important part of why IBM is interested in Linux. They need very smart people and smart tech people like to take things apart and put them together in new ways. That is easier to do in Linux than with MS software.
You have to ask for your SSN not to be used, they'll give you another number starting with "S".
I remember a conspiricist group giving a presentation at my high school in 1974 about SSNs and drivers licenses. They told me how to get my SSN off my drivers license and I did it then.
The codec does not belong to Apple. The license it from Sorenson. If you want to, you can call up Sorenson and license it too. Go for it. As to "buy it out and pretend it's free", that's Microsoft's strategy. Apple didn't buy Quicktime, it invented it. Apple did buy NeXT, but there was no streaming server in NeXT.
Unfortunately Sorenson will not allow their codec to be licensed or ported for an OS in which Apple has not made available a QuickTime client. This includes Linux.
Apple and Sorenson Vision currently have a "you scratch my back and I'll scratch your back" relationship. It's beneficial for both companies but also to many of you. We are very supportive of QuickTime and will only port our codec to those systems that are supported by QuickTime
For more background on this see Mark Podlipec's comments on his attempts to get the sorenson codec ported to Xamim http://xanim.va.pubnix.com/
Apple seems completely uniterested in allowing QuickTime to be ported to Linux or other free nixes. Charles Wiltgen the QuickTime Technology Manager cwiltgen@apple.com is seemingly completely unconvinced of any benefit to Apple of allowing a QuickTime client on Linux. His standard response to the question about a Linux client on the quicktime-talk list is quoted below:
Linux is a fine topic for this list if it involves serving QuickTime movies. Otherwise, it's not.
If QuickTime on other platforms is critical to you, let your platform vendor know that you need them to license QuickTime -- refer them to me, and I'll hook them up with the the Apple people they'll need to talk to.
If you have more thoughts on the subject, please take it to a different forum, or email me privately.
See: QuickTime-Talk Digest V1 #133, June 12 1999
If you've got a well reasoned response about why it is in Apple's interest to make or allow a QuickTime client for Linux please write to Charles. I'd base it on Linux desktops eating away MS share instead of Apple's.
Slashdot Mirror
In summary, open source Java is fine, open source almost-Java is not.
If you make a derivation/fork with the open source Java code Oracle only extends patent grants if your fork passes Oracle's expensive certification tests for Java. This certification is impractical for most people or organizations and is inherently impossible for anybody who is interested in making a new language with the code or adapting some of the code for other purposes.
In summary:
We've been working for the last year developing a handheld application to support student science investigation in schools. The idea is to have students do experiments, collect and analyze data using sensors connected to the handheld, and to be able to share the data among themselves and the teacher.
The computer is used to display, analyze, organize, and communicate data collected from the physical world around the student. A real-time display of sensor data in graphical form is an excellent science learning tool.
Here are some of the advantages of handhelds in this situation.
1) Portability. Many investigations do not take place on a lab bench but may instead be on the floor, out in the hallway, in the gym or outdoors. It is inconvenient to move a laptop around and completely impractical to move a desktop. It is tremendously powerful to have the display and analysis capacities of a computer while doing an investigation.
2) Cost. It is much cheaper to buy 15 handhelds rather than 15 laptops. It is also cheaper to replace a handheld when it is broken.
3) Collaboration. It is easy to beam data and text directly from one system to another.
There are many for advantages for using computers in these types of learning environments but since they are true for both handhelds and larger system I won't list them here.
To be more practical for kids and in schools handhelds need to be much more robust and synching a group of palms needs to be much easier. There are many practical classroom management issues.
I've played with two Palms with bluetooth cards and they communicated easily out to about 20 feet. When this is either built-in or a cheap add-on collaboration and synching will be much easier.
Our application CCProbe supports sensor-based visualization and analysis along with a Lab Notebook for saving and communicating probe data and views. Written in Waba and available under the GPL it runs on PalmOS, WinCE, PocketPC, Windows, MacOS Classic, MacOS X, and Linux. For more information about our software, interface and probes check out CCProbeware.
Page through the following site if you are interested in a middle school curriculum using handhelds for middle-school science investigations into force and motion and energy transformations Technology Enhanced Elementary and Middles School Science.
We are developing an open source application we call CCProbe which combines tools for collecting and analyzing sensor data with the capability to display these and other objects (images, drawings, notes, etc ...) in a compound document structure similar to a html page. Our application is written in Waba, an open-source java-like language specifically developed for handhelds.
We have CCProbe running on PalmOS, PocketPC, Windows, MacOS, MacOSX, and Linux.
On the Palm we compile the waba class files to 68000 machine code with WabaJump. The speed is suprizingly good, as fast as the interpreted version running on an iPaq. Our application is 750k on the Palm. On full-size OSes we run the waba classes on top of a Java VM.
You can find out more about CCProbe and download the software at: http://concord.org/ccprobeware/ccprobe.
Find out more about Waba at: http://www.wabasoft.com.
Find out more about WabaJump here: http://www.wabajump.org/.
You asked: "Where exactly are you getting this from?"
I can't remember, it's something I've known for a long time. Do a bit of searching, I'm sure you'll confirm it.
Here's a few things I found with a quick search:
IF YOU ARE VISITED BY THE FBI
http://www.jannah.org/articles/fbi.html
Rod's Experience with Government Harassment
http://www.animalliberation.net/security/rod.html
It is a federal crime to lie to an FBI agent at any time. And of course you are not the person determining whether what you say is a lie. If you say something that can be misinterpreted as a lie then you open yourself up to serious charges. It may be best not to talk at all.
I think this is an important part of why IBM is interested in Linux. They need very smart people and smart tech people like to take things apart and put them together in new ways. That is easier to do in Linux than with MS software.
You have to ask for your SSN not to be used, they'll give you another number starting with "S".
I remember a conspiricist group giving a presentation at my high school in 1974 about SSNs and drivers licenses. They told me how to get my SSN off my drivers license and I did it then.
The codec does not belong to Apple. The license it from Sorenson. If you want to, you can call up Sorenson and license it too. Go for it. As to "buy it out and pretend it's free", that's Microsoft's strategy. Apple didn't buy Quicktime, it invented it. Apple did buy NeXT, but there was no streaming server in NeXT.
Unfortunately Sorenson will not allow their codec to be licensed or ported for an OS in which Apple has not made available a QuickTime client. This includes Linux.
I found this hard to believe but Norman Doyle normd@s-vision.com, director of software development at Sorenson confirmed it on the public QuickTime-Talk list (QuickTime-Talk Digest V1 #138, June 15 1999), http://www.lists.apple.com/quicktime -talk.html.
Quoting Norman:
Apple and Sorenson Vision currently have a "you scratch my back and I'll scratch your back" relationship. It's beneficial for both companies but also to many of you. We are very supportive of QuickTime and will only port our codec to those systems that are supported by QuickTime
For more background on this see Mark Podlipec's comments on his attempts to get the sorenson codec ported to Xamim http://xanim.va.pubnix.com/
Apple seems completely uniterested in allowing QuickTime to be ported to Linux or other free nixes. Charles Wiltgen the QuickTime Technology Manager cwiltgen@apple.com is seemingly completely unconvinced of any benefit to Apple of allowing a QuickTime client on Linux. His standard response to the question about a Linux client on the quicktime-talk list is quoted below:
Linux is a fine topic for this list if it involves serving
QuickTime movies. Otherwise, it's not.
If QuickTime on other platforms is critical to you, let your
platform vendor know that you need them to license QuickTime --
refer them to me, and I'll hook them up with the the Apple people
they'll need to talk to.
If you have more thoughts on the subject, please take it to a
different forum, or email me privately.
See: QuickTime-Talk Digest V1 #133, June 12 1999
If you've got a well reasoned response about why it is in Apple's interest to make or allow a QuickTime client for Linux please write to Charles. I'd base it on Linux desktops eating away MS share instead of Apple's.