JogjaTechno - First, Sun Microsystems wouldn t do it. Then Sun teased us with it. Now, on Nov.
13, Linux-Watch has learned that Sun will finally open-source its implementations of Java under the GNU GPL v2
JEE had already been available under Sun s CDDL (Common Development and Distribution License) through Project GlassFish.
Sun states that this announcement represents one of the largest source code contributions under the GPL license and the open-sourcing of one of the industry s most significant and pervasive software platforms.
It wasn t so long ago that former Sun CEO Scott McNealy said that Sun didn t see the point in providing an open-source implementation.
Click here to read more about Sun s position in the past on open-sourcing Java.
We re trying to understand what problem does it solve that is not already solved, McNealy said.
Sun is singing a different story not three years later.
By open-sourcing Sun s implementation of Java technology, we will inspire a new phase of developer collaboration and innovation using the NetBeans IDE [Integrated Development Environment] and expect the Java platform to be the foundation infrastructure for next generation Internet, desktop, mobile and enterprise applications, said Rich Green, Sun s executive VP of Software, in a statement.
With the JDK [Java Development Kit] released as free software under the GPL, Sun will be working closely with distributors of the GNU/Linux operating system, who will soon be able to include the JDK as part of the open-source repositories that are commonly included with GNU/Linux distributions.
Industry figures, who had been asking Sun to open-source Java since 2004, were pleased with the move, and, in particular, Sun s choice in licenses.
Read more here about Eric Raymond calling on Sun to open-source Java.
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