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The new licensing tack is designed to give those developers more flexibility in how they can use the Java source code, Sun executives said. It doesn't mean that Sun intends to make Java available in an open-source-style license, as some Java proponents have urged, they said.
What's new:
Sun is working on an initiative to simplify the Java license it uses with commercial software companies.
Bottom line:
Sun wants to make Java easier to work with and more attractive to software providers and programmers, as it faces ongoing competition from Microsoft and open-source development alternatives.
James Gosling, the chief technology officer at Sun's Developer Products group, is scheduled to discuss the company's Java licensing approach at a press conference on Wednesday.
If licensing restrictions are eased, that could make it easier to bundle Java with open-source software, notably Linux, said RedMonk analyst Stephen O'Grady.
"Increasingly, the divide between commercial and noncommercial applications is blurring, so I'm not surprised there's a sentiment towards simplifying the overall licensing picture," O'Grady said.
Sun controls the license that governs use of the Java programming language and software required to run Java programs. Commercial companies, such as IBM and Oracle, use the Sun Community Source License, or SCSL. In 2003, Sun introduced the Java Research License, or JRL, which is meant to encourage Java research among academics.
Now Sun is working on a separate initiative to overhaul its commercial Java license.
"The JRL is the noncommercial simplification of SCSL, and we're evaluating how to simplify SCSL for commercial use," said Jean Elliott, director of product marketing for Sun's Java 2 Standard Edition. "We'd like to see (the commercial license) be like the human tail and eventually go away, because we felt it was excessively complicated."
Sun's Java licensing policies are closely watched by companies that sell Java-based products as well as by proponents of open-source software. Last year, IBM sent an open letter to Sun urging the company to license the Java software under an open-source license. Sun has indicated that it is reluctant to do that, in part because it may cause incompatibilities in the Java standard.
"Mustang" set to roll next year
The planned commercial license changes come as Sun prepares to disclose the features of the next major revision of Java. The "Mustang" release of Java 2 Standard Edition--the software to build and run Java applications--is expected to be completed by the middle of 2006, said Mark Reinhold, J2SE architect and chief engineer at Sun.
The J2SE software, which is used mainly for creating desktop PC applications, underpins the server-side Java specification called Java 2 Enterprise Edition. An update to that standard, called J2EE version 5.0, is planned for release in the second half of 2005. Another update to J2EE is due once the revamp of Mustang is completed.
Mustang will not be as significant a change as the Tiger release of J2SE, which was delivered last September. However, it will have significant enhancements, Reinhold said. Full details of planned features are expected to be released in the next two months.
With Mustang, Sun is looking to ensure that Java applications are compatible with existing programs and that they can be more easily "diagnosed" and monitored for bugs. The software for writing programs that conform to Web services protocols is being overhauled and will be included in the J2SE software, rather than available as a separate add-on, Reinhold said.
The Mustang update will also look to simplify Java programming and make it easier to incorporate programs written in scripting languages such as Perl, Python or PHP, he added. It will include the software created by the Java Specification Request 223, a working group that is designing changes to Java that will enable Web pages created with scripting languages to run in server Java applications.
During the development of Mustang, Sun will release the source-code and binary versions of the software as it's built, rather than deliver it as a single package once it's completed, Reinhold said. The company, based in Santa Clara, Calif., also plans to release regular updates to the Mustang software every other month for bug fixes and other changes.
Until now, major overhauls to the Java software were done every two to three years. Sun changed to a quicker release schedule because the existing system "did not allow us to be as nimble as we'd like, especially in the face of competing platforms like (Microsoft's) .Net," Reinhold said.
See more CNET content tagged:
Java, Sun Microsystems Inc., commercial software company, J2EE, J2SE
Sure Java should not be considered in special real time critical situation still. However i am the kind of programmer who always works on Databases , networked clients for businesses like Construction, or Non profit organization, Programs that deal with daily management of large information flow. Java has proved to me repeatedly that is the most powerful platform out there. The support for back end, middle end , and specially the front end is excellent. Swing library is so powerful that actually tends to overwhelm people at first. But it became natural to me, specially with IDE like Netbeans. Oh yeah the Garbage Collection is worthless if you are a sloppy programmer and let references hang around eating you memory, but that's your fault.
Sure Java should not be considered in special real time critical situation still. However i am the kind of programmer who always works on Databases , networked clients for businesses like Construction, or Non profit organization, Programs that deal with daily management of large information flow. Java has proved to me repeatedly that is the most powerful platform out there. The support for back end, middle end , and specially the front end is excellent. Swing library is so powerful that actually tends to overwhelm people at first. But it became natural to me, specially with IDE like Netbeans. Oh yeah the Garbage Collection is worthless if you are a sloppy programmer and let references hang around eating you memory, but that's your fault.
If there was enough support, it might sway Sun to see the inevitiable future of Open Source quicker than they have in the past.
After all Open Source is one big platform. Why be an island?
f***ing hippies!!!
Just like there is one standard in languages like C and C++. Any language that lets itself become fractured is a doomed language.
implementations already (like Kaffe and Guava),
including the native Java compiler gcj.
Typically, their limitations are in the
implementation of the graphics toolkit -- which
is much trickier than one would expect
(nonetheless, there's impressive progress on
that front too). Of course, if you use SWT in
place of Swing or AWT, then you're all set.
For example, the popular development platform
Eclipse, which is written in Java and uses the
SWT library in place of AWT and Swing, has been
compiled using GCJ into a native executable for
several platforms.
- Open Source Java
- by t8 March 15, 2005 1:45 PM PST
- Why doesn't the Open Source Community start work on an Open Java type language. It may force Sun to open Java up to Open Source. Then the 2 can be knitted together or whatever later on.
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
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- knit the two together???
- by mortis9 March 15, 2005 2:04 PM PST
- are you a programmer or did you just think that crap you wrote down sounded good?
- Like this View all 2 replies
Processing -
- 2 versions of java is a bad idea
- by Bill Dautrive March 15, 2005 2:38 PM PST
- That is one thing that has helped Java grow, one standard. It has also maintained tight backwards compatibility, a program compiled with an older compiler will not usually break with a newer JVM.
- Like this
-
- Been there, done that...
- by March 16, 2005 9:36 AM PST
- There are several Open Source Java
- Like this
-
(24 Comments)If there was enough support, it might sway Sun to see the inevitiable future of Open Source quicker than they have in the past.
After all Open Source is one big platform. Why be an island?
f***ing hippies!!!
Just like there is one standard in languages like C and C++. Any language that lets itself become fractured is a doomed language.
implementations already (like Kaffe and Guava),
including the native Java compiler gcj.
Typically, their limitations are in the
implementation of the graphics toolkit -- which
is much trickier than one would expect
(nonetheless, there's impressive progress on
that front too). Of course, if you use SWT in
place of Swing or AWT, then you're all set.
For example, the popular development platform
Eclipse, which is written in Java and uses the
SWT library in place of AWT and Swing, has been
compiled using GCJ into a native executable for
several platforms.