Sun’s Java to go Open Source

The first open source Java code is expected to be released in October. Sun Microsystems is still considering which open source license to use and has created a website called Open Sourcing the JDK to elicit comments and recommendations from Java developers. Hotspot VM and Java C will be the first Java components to be released under an open source license, with the remainder of the code scheduled for release by the end of 2007.

Laurie Tolson, Vice President of developer programs and projects at Sun, said that, “our primary focus is to be compatible, putting programmes in place that people can rely on for compatible implementations of Java.” The company is also planning to expand its open source initiative to include Sun’s Java ME technology for mobile phones.

It is not yet clear if Sun’s Java ME technology (which allows mobile phones to run Java code) will be included in the first round of open sourcing planned for October or at a later time. According to Allan Brenner, Vice President of Mobile and Embedded Devices at Sun, there is a, “clear trend towards the use of open source on mobile phones, [in the mobile phone industry in general].”

A consortium created by Motorola, NEC, Panasonic, Samsung, NTT, Docomo and Vodafone which aims to create a standard version of a mobile Linux is evidence of the shift towards using open source software in the mobile phone industry. “So far we have clearly seen that going in an OS direction for Java ME is the right and logical choice at this point,” said Brenner.

“We really do want to lead and establish that direction in the market,” Brenner further explained. He also added that “most” of the Java ME code will be released by the end of 2006, pointing to a swift completion of the move to open source licenses for the entire Java code-base.

Via JDK Community

The first open source Java code is expected to be released in October. Sun Microsystems is still considering which open source license to use and has created a website called Open Sourcing the JDK to elicit comments and recommendations from Java developers. Hotspot VM and Java C will be the first Java components to be released under an open source license, with the remainder of the code scheduled for release by the end of 2007.

Laurie Tolson, Vice President of developer programs and projects at Sun, said that, “our primary focus is to be compatible, putting programmes in place that people can rely on for compatible implementations of Java.” The company is also planning to expand its open source initiative to include Sun’s Java ME technology for mobile phones.

It is not yet clear if Sun’s Java ME technology (which allows mobile phones to run Java code) will be included in the first round of open sourcing planned for October or at a later time. According to Allan Brenner, Vice President of Mobile and Embedded Devices at Sun, there is a, “clear trend towards the use of open source on mobile phones, [in the mobile phone industry in general].”

A consortium created by Motorola, NEC, Panasonic, Samsung, NTT, Docomo and Vodafone which aims to create a standard version of a mobile Linux is evidence of the shift towards using open source software in the mobile phone industry. “So far we have clearly seen that going in an OS direction for Java ME is the right and logical choice at this point,” said Brenner.

“We really do want to lead and establish that direction in the market,” Brenner further explained. He also added that “most” of the Java ME code will be released by the end of 2006, pointing to a swift completion of the move to open source licenses for the entire Java code-base.

Via JDK Community