Tuesday December 28, 2004 Are Sys-Con Just Trolls?
I just read a post by Sys-Con (which I'll not point to as their ad-laden style is offensive) who obviously have a serious problem because they are reporting as new news excellent comments my friend Bruno Souza made back in November in a JavaLobby thread responding to Onno Kluyt's question "what could you do with an open source Java that you can't do now". Mid-November news making the press in late December? Looks like it's time Sys-Con shut up shop and left news to the bloggers they copy.
Having said all that, I do agree with Bruno. The process that Apache, Sun and the JCP have been conducting for the last few years removing the unintentional obstacles to open source re-implementations of Java specifications needs finessing and finishing. It's not about Sun releasing an open source JRE (Bruno and Javali will do that) - it's about making sure others can do so more easily, including Sun if they chose to.
Posted by webmink
( Dec 28 2004, 05:02:02 AM PST )
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Ugh. You're making the same mistake that so many others are making in talking about "open sourcing" Java... The crux of the issue is who controls what "Java" means. Check out my blog entry (and the comments) on JCK Bait-n-Switch Licensing for more on this.
Posted by John D. Mitchell on December 28, 2004 at 11:10 AM PST #
Sorry John, I disagree both with your comment and with the blog post you refer to. I feel you're perpetuating the negative frame forced on the Java community by its detractors and I don't think that helps. Beating on Sun this way is so last-millennium and ignores the dynamics of the JCP and it's many members.
Both Apache and the Javali project realise they are free to implement Java platforms that are released under license terms of their own choosing and they are getting on with it, with Sun's support. Bruno's comments on JavaLobby show that the process is incomplete but the step-by-step progress towards bridging the freedom-worlds of the JCP and OSI is still in progress and I for one hold out great hope.
Posted by Simon Phipps on December 28, 2004 at 12:01 PM PST #