Open Source zealots that use Java will probably wet themselves over this news, but it seems Sun has finally decided to open source the JDK 100% under an OSI-approved license. You can follow Sun’s progress on this front at the new Open Source JDK portal. Sun has been resisting calls to open source Java for years. A step was made in that direction during the development of Tiger (JDK 1.5) and continued with Mustang (JDK 1.6), but it was a hesitant one. This is a full out embrace.
It will be interesting to see how this develops. How will it affect the Java Community Process? Will we finally see a lean and mean version of the JDK without all the baggage and bloat of backwards compatibility? Will this encourage Sony or Nintendo to get a version of Java on their consoles? Will we see existing languages implemented to run on the JVM, much as languages currently can be ported to Microsoft’s CLR? Is this a boon that can add some needed ‘oomph’ to Java, or is it too little too late as usual? The answers to these and other questions are what I will be on the lookout for.
Technorati Tags: Java, Open Source, OSI, Sun Microsystems
Post a Comment