JavaOne: Sun lends a hand to open-source Java

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By Ashlee Vance,
IDG News Service, San Francisco Bureau

(IDG) -- Sun Microsystems Inc. answered a long-standing call from open-source software developers Tuesday, saying Java fans will be able to submit some changes for the platform under open-source licenses and receive financial support from Sun for their projects.

Sun's move toward more open Java was announced by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Scott McNealy during a keynote address at the JavaOne conference. Sun teamed with The Apache Software Foundation (ASF), maker of the popular Apache Server, to refine the procedures for open-source modifications of Java.

The changes are designed to address issues that have dogged open-source companies looking to certify their products as Java compatible through the JCP (Java Community Process) that governs Java's maturation. Companies have been wary of submitting open changes for Java because of licensing issues, confidentiality concerns and the costs associated with running compatibility tests, said Jason Hunter, vice president of the ASF, joining McNealy on stage.

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As a response to some of these concerns, all Sun-led JSRs (Java Specification Requests) for standardizing a feature through the JCP can be submitted under an open-source license. In addition, test kits may also be submitted under the open licenses, Hunter said.

Sun will also dedicate part of its support staff to helping open-source developers and academic institutions build new features for Java.

"I believe we have just made the Java community tighter as a community and much broader as a community with one move," McNealy said.

Sun has long been under the watch of developers who were concerned about how much control the company exerts over a technology used by myriad companies. Sun, however, had voiced worries about the fragmentation of Java due to incompatible implementations of the technology from outside parties.

With the move Tuesday, Sun may have assuaged some of the developers' fears and found a way to tap the talents of the Java community and open-source programmers as a whole.