Comments on: Sun to make Java more Linux-friendly

As JavaOne approaches, plans are afoot to make Java licensing terms more favorable to open-source OSes.

[Blito]

Very excited

Looks promising. Um, we'll see what happens. I hope it works out.
If it is supposed to meld with the GPL it should be pretty open source. I wonder how open source the compiler will be. I hope more then .NET.
Seems like a complicated subject with licensing. They will probably tier licenses based on other Java software. I hope they allow me to have a certain amount of control over the code. SUN shouldn't be afraid. C++ is totally open source and still the creator is the main updater for the language. He hasn't lost control.

Check out www.desktoplinux.com for hardcore analysis.

[FutureGuy]

Java did Sun no good..

..Sun is on its death bed, it could have been a great company, but its bozo CEO took it on a crusade against MS rather then focusing on making money. It?s a capitalistic world if you don?t make money you are toast. Linux pretty much was the final nail is Sun?s coffin and it still hasn?t figured that out. They must be on dope big time.

[scdecade]

You're 3 years behind the times.

Linux is becoming both more relevant and yet more irrelevant by the day. Look at IBM. Where is their software IP going? It's to the visor layer that runs underneath the OS. That's becoming the new OS. Otherwise programing to a specific OS should make little difference. Unless you're a propellerheaded fanboy...

And Sun still sells like $10 Billion/year in hardware. They make good products. And they're hardly in any financial trouble.

[cyber_rigger]

final nail is Sun?s coffin?

IBM doesn't seem to think that Linux is a coffin nail.

IMO Sun's problem is a reluctance to accept Linux.


As far a Microsoft goes just about everyone is on a crusade to stop Microsoft.

:^)

[Dachi]

This is a Linux problem

Software should be about choice, Sun should not be forced into releasing Java as GPL just so it can be included in Linux distros.

Sun is _not_ going to sue Red Hat, SUSE etc. for bundling their JVM binaries and I am sure they would even be willing to put it in writing.

Demanding _everything_ be OSS is not any more logical than demanding everything be closed source. Choice they say, pfft.

[jdevora]

It is not.!!!

Nobody is forcing Sun to relase Java a GPL.

But the linux distributors are NOT allowed to distribute the JRE because in its license Sun says that you can ONLY download the JRE from THEIR servers (can't put it on the distribution's servers or CDs) unless you are bundle it as a requirement of an specific application. Take a look at the 2nd point at http://www.java.com/en/download/license.jsp

[JJPEC]

Heading off a major drawback to desktop adoption.

Aside from the legal issues, which are important to a healthy environment for OSS, this will be a great boon for Linux and other open source operating systems. I have been a Linux user for quite a while now, and I am finally comfortable installing the JRE, but I can assure you that 98% of all potential desktop users would not be able to. Especially since the instruction page is always out of date and has the wrong version in the example instructions. It also assumes you have a pretty good understanding of *nix tree structure and file permissions. Windoz is d/l, one click and you are installed. For OSOS's to gain acceptance they need to make these plug-ins available in the initial distro.

[cyber_rigger]

Adapt or die

Sun knows that there are competing free languages.

If Sun doesn't adapt java
to integrate into the free software world
java will die.

[Joe Blow]

Shhhh!!! Don't Tell That To ...

the tens of thousands of software developers who have been busy porting, or at least wrapping, much of the legacy code that has been running on everything from embedded hand-held and desktop data entry terminals all the way up to mainframes and supercomputers, and everything else in between. You don't want to surprise the users of tens of millions of cell phones/PDAs who are running Java apps on their devices, and/or the servers behind the scenes providing the associated support services are doing so with Java more often, than not. This is primarily due to code portability, built-in code safety, and performance that is now generally at least 95% of that of equivalent C/C++ code, but without the bugaboos such as buffer overruns, dangling pointers, and other forms of memory mismanagement and abuse (among many other advanced features usually not readily supported by older software environments and hardware platforms, such as multi-threading, shared memory with protection between processes, strong typing, modular structure, well-defined interfaces, remote method invocation, easier code re-use, etc.).

Some JRE implementations done by others than Sun are actually more bug-free, have better performance, and better support for advanced features (such as those listed above) than Sun's implementations for those platforms.

As long as there are needs for features such as those discussed above, and easier-to-use development toolsets than those typically used for older languages, Java will be around probably until at least Y10K rears its ugly head. At least it will be easier to update the data structures and methods for handling dates in Java than it was for all that FORTRAN and COBOL code that needed to be hacked for Y2K (often without the source code, which had been lost long ago).

All the Best,
Joe Blow

[Joe Blow]

Shhhh!!! Don't Tell That To ...

the tens of thousands of software developers who have been busy porting, or at least wrapping, much of the legacy code that has been running on everything from embedded hand-held and desktop data entry terminals all the way up to mainframes and supercomputers, and everything else in between. You don't want to surprise the users of tens of millions of cell phones/PDAs who are running Java apps on their devices, and/or the servers behind the scenes providing the associated support services are doing so with Java more often, than not. This is primarily due to code portability, built-in code safety, and performance that is now generally at least 95% of that of equivalent C/C++ code, but without the bugaboos such as buffer overruns, dangling pointers, and other forms of memory mismanagement and abuse (among many other advanced features usually not readily supported by older software environments and hardware platforms, such as multi-threading, shared memory with protection between processes, strong typing, modular structure, well-defined interfaces, remote method invocation, easier code re-use, etc.).

Some JRE implementations done by others than Sun are actually more bug-free, have better performance, and better support for advanced features (such as those listed above) than Sun's implementations for those platforms.

As long as there are needs for features such as those discussed above, and easier-to-use development toolsets than those typically used for older languages, Java will be around probably until at least Y10K rears its ugly head. At least it will be easier to update the data structures and methods for handling dates in Java than it was for all that FORTRAN and COBOL code that needed to be hacked for Y2K (often without the source code, which had been lost long ago).

All the Best,
Joe Blow