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Open Source Java Technology: What It Means for Academic Developers
 Sun believes Java technology has reached the right level of maturity, adoption, and innovation — with widespread use across enterprises and devices — to move into the next stage of its evolution.
Sun on November 13 released all of its key Java implementations — the largest single contribution under the widely respected Free Software Foundation's GNU General Public License (GPLv2).
"Now that Java's established itself beyond a doubt, it's time to take the next step, to utterly obliterate the barriers to entry for developers around the world seeking to build the next great device, or the next great Internet service," Sun CEO and President Jonathan Schwartz wrote in his popular blog. "Whether in the U.S., Brazil, Poland, China, Tibet, Taiwan, Europe, Mexico — wherever the Internet travels (to more places, at this point, than even electricity)."
Sun released all of the key Java implementations — Java Standard Edition (traditionally run on desktops), Java Micro Edition (traditionally run on phones and embedded devices) and Java Enterprise Edition (traditionally run in business infrastructure) — using the GPLv2 license at the center of the GNU/Linux community.
Sun's Strategy
Sun intends to open source all of its software — no product or group excepted — and we're on track to steadily do so. With OpenSolaris, NetBeans, OpenOffice, GlassFish, Project Looking Glass, and many other contributions, we have made available to developers some of the most advanced technologies on the planet.
However, the open sourcing of Java technology is unique in that the Java platform is the world's largest developer ecosystem, with more than 5 million Java developers worldwide. Java technology runs on more devices, and in more applications, than the Solaris OS, Windows, and Linux combined.
'An Extraordinary Achievement'
"Sun's policy of GPLing Java...is an extraordinary achievement in returning programming technology to that state of freely available knowledge that people can share and improve together. It's a crucial step in the process of turning the technology today into knowledge that people can use freely to make the technology of tomorrow."
Eben Moglen
Law Professor, New York University
Founder, Software Freedom Law Center
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By open sourcing its Java implementations, Sun will open new market opportunities, fuel innovation, and drive broader adoption of this Web 2.0 platform. The goal of the Open Source Java Project is to grow the Java developer community, accelerate Java platform development, and extend the Java platform throughout all free and open source developer communities.
What Was Open Sourced?
This singular act is the largest contribution ever made to the free software community, and places Sun squarely at the front of the open-source movement as the single biggest commercial contributor. Specifically, Sun announced:
- GPL v2 license for Sun's Java SE (JDK) and Java ME implementations, and adding this license to Sun's Java EE implementation
- First release of code for the JDK and for Sun's Java ME implementation, projects and communities
- Roadmap for future code releases and community development
New Developer Communities
Tapping its experience in building dynamic and transparent open source communities, Sun is launching the OpenJDK Community and the Mobile & Embedded Community to support developer participation in evolving the open source JDK and open source Java ME implementations respectively.
Developers wanting to get started right away can take advantage of the best tool for open source Java application development: the NetBeans Integrated Development Environment (IDE). The NetBeans IDE provides complete support for the entire Java platform, from Java ME to Java SE to Java EE. To further speed time to market, Sun is also:
- Providing prebuilt NetBeans projects at www.netbeans.org for the Java language components being open sourced
- Making the Sun Studio development environment available at developers.sun.com/sunstudio for the native Java language components.
Benefits for the Academic Developer Community
Sun's open sourcing of Java technology offers developers at academic research institutions a historic opportunity to contribute to and capitalize on the collaborative innovation of community-based development. Sun welcomes the continued participation of the academic and research community in the further development of Java technology. In particular, open sourcing Java technology:
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Fosters Community Development: Sun's James Gosling, recognized as the "father of Java technology," sees an immediate benefit to the Education and Research community. "In the past, there have been a lot of researchers in universities using the code to do research projects. And people who are making contributions will be able to build their contribution and to make sure that all the contributions fit," Gosling said.
"Sun continues to embrace open source, and I invite you to join us. There are all kinds of contributions you can make. If there's a bug that you really care about, you can go work out a fix. (That's one area where developers have made tens of thousands of contributions over the years.) I also invite you to help us add new features. If there's new functionality that you really want in Java technology, the process is there to help you to add that to the platform as well."
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Meets Open Source Requirements: Open sourcing Java meets the requirements of a growing set of university and government customers who require open source. Governments and educational institutions can reap the benefits of open source Java technologies while ensuring security, privacy, and datacenter control. |
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Helps Drive Economic Development: Open source Java technology opens a wealth of opportunities for economic development around the globe, with significant contributions from developers and IT technologists at academic and research institutions. As Lu Shouqun, chairman of the China Open Source Promotion Union, put it: "This bold, visionary move not only adds to the popularity and development of Java language, establishing a firm foundation for those enterprises who use open source to build a more open ecosystem for information technology, it also creates a new opportunity for the information industry in China."
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Resources for Academic Developers
Take advantage of these free resources. They're a great way to get started on making the most of the opportunities from the open sourcing of Java technology.
Questions or comments? Please email education_news@sun.com
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