Sunday starts with the all too-familiar buzz in the air and enthusiasm
The before shot below taken early on Saturday is sure to change with the stampede to follow tomorrow morning
The "Fireside Chat" with James Gosling, Rob Gingell and Graham Hamilton was a great way to start the conference with an informal chat about all things.
Questions ranging from the typical Open Source strategies for Java was interestingly positioned by James as having to be strict with standards/specifications means that users are free to choose whatever implementation they want, and vendors are free to develop their own implementations according to a widely adopted standard.
This was followed with the old car analogy with his farm boy twist: "It's like learning to drive a car with a steering wheel and then figuring out how to drive a caterpillar with a joystick [levers]". The point of which was lost when Gingell added that it is fun to drive caterpillars/tractors, to the amusement of all.
The more traditional comment followed: "It's like learning to drive a Ford and being stuck with driving Fords only for the rest of your life"
A common theme of the audience asking for Sun to mandate strategy and direction for Java was met with consistent insistence from Graham and James that the good thing about Java is innovation and freedom of choice, with the addition that Sun's preference is to watch the experimentation on top of the platform and have the expert groups reach consensus on what is best for the industry.