Getting to the Bottom of Open Source Java

Welcome back, Sun Inner Circle readers. Last month, I discussed one of my top concerns as CIO of Sun — security. This month, I plan to cover some recently announced big news at Sun by helping readers evaluate the monumental impact of Sun’s decision to release its implementation of the Java platform to the open source developer community.

Sun has already stated its irrevocable commitment to open source its entire software portfolio. In the past, Sun has demonstrated its resolve toward achieving this goal with its impressive roster of open source projects, including OpenSolaris OS, NetBeans software, OpenOffice, GlassFish and Project Looking Glass to name a few. Now, with the decision to open source Java technology, Sun is not only the largest provider of open source software, but also the biggest contributor to both the free software and GPL communities.

While this is undoubtedly both a monumental moment, as well as the right thing to do, the decision to open source Java technology does raise a host of questions. Why did the company decide that now was the right time to open source Java? What’s behind the timing? What is the impact of this decision on the open source community? What’s the future of Java technology given the announcement? And what does the announcement mean in a practical sense for today’s CXOs and developers?

To help unpack some of these questions, I invited Bob Brewin, Sun distinguished engineer and CTO of Sun Software, to guest write this month’s letter. On a day-to-day level, Bob is involved in all facets of software development at Sun, including the role of open source, development priorities and assignments, and oversight of the Java technology groups. In other words, there couldn’t be a better person to discuss the motivation behind Sun’s decision, what exactly the company announced, and the implications for software customers, developers, and Sun.

So, take it away Bob —

Bob Worrall
CIO, Sun Microsystems

Thanks, Bob. I’m happy to have this opportunity to share some of the thoughts around Sun’s decision to open source the Java platform. This action represents a major step toward the goal of open sourcing the entire Sun software portfolio, and the implications for Sun, developers, customers and partners are immense. In answer to some of the question posed by Bob Worrall, I thought I would take a moment to explain why Sun has chosen this time to release the major components of its Java implementation to the open source community.

The short and simple answer to the timing question — customers are demanding open source products, and Java technology has evolved to the point where it is established, stable, and has a vibrant community that will continue to sustain and evolve the platform. The reasons for the interest in open source are many — open source software prevents vendor lock-in, increases application flexibility and, ultimately, reduces development and datacenter costs — but the real reason customers have come to prefer it is that developers have embraced open source as part of their application development lifestyle. More developers are building software to run on open source platforms and customers can extract value from the flexibility and interoperability promoted by open standards.

For Sun, this cycle is summed up in the phrase volume drives opportunity. In other words, by increasing the appeal of Java technology for developers, open source Java increases the likelihood that new people will create innovative devices and services on the Java platform. In turn, this greater volume drives greater opportunity for Sun and its partners.

Java and Open Source Grow Up Together
Of course, during the same time that open source software has been embraced as the mainstream paradigm for application development, Java technology has matured to become the preferred software language for network innovation. Consider this — Java runs on more devices and in more applications than Windows, Linux, and the Solaris Operating System combined. Over the past 11 years, Sun and the larger Java technology community have built an extremely popular, large, and dynamic market and platform for mobile, desktop, and enterprise applications.

Given the benefits of open source, many people have wondered why Sun didn't open source the Java platform earlier. It's partly a maturity question in terms of platform evolution as well as one of having a healthy community that will help maintain that compatible implementation of Java technology that, up to now, Sun has been able to guarantee … that is the promise of write-once-run-anywhere.

And while the decision to open source Java technology creates the potential for forked or incompatible versions of Java, by waiting until the Java platform had matured further and had a much larger installed base dependent upon it, we now can provide an open source implementation that the open source community will likely help to maintain the compatibility of future versions.

What Has Sun Done?
At the JavaOne Conference in 2006, Sun committed to open sourcing its entire Java platform over time. On November 13, Sun conducted its initial release of components from its key implementations:

• Java Standard Edition (traditionally run on desktops)
• Java Micro Edition (usually found in phones and other embedded devices)
• Java Enterprise Edition (typically the foundation for business infrastructure)

Each of these releases occurred under the GNU General Public License (GPLv2). Specifically, Sun open sourced key aspects of its Java SE (including HotSpot virtual machine, javac compiler and JavaHelp documentation system) and Java ME (including Sun’s optimized CLDC and CDL code). Furthermore, the company reiterated its vow to release the entire Java JDK under open source licensing by the first half of 2007.

The choice of licensing model for the release of these implementations was one of the more highly speculated aspects of the decision. The Java SE JDK was open sourced using the GPLv2 with the Classpath exception and Java ME was released under straight GPLv2. By choosing the licensing scheme at the core of the GNU/Linux community, Sun is reaching out to developers who, in the past, might not have readily chosen Java as a solution. The choice of GPL as well should maximize value for people already using open source — especially those in the Linux community.

Admittedly, Sun’s decision to open source Java technology creates the potential for competing implementations of the Java platform. But Sun brings unique value to the new open source Java landscape, and Sun still possesses the gold standard Java SE and Java ME implementations. Sun — as the main architect of Java technology and the JDK — delivers both extensive developer resources and years of experience in balancing the needs of a complex Java ecosystem. Both of those will help Sun maintain its role in guiding the compatibility of the Java platform.

What Opportunities Does Open Source Java Create?
So, now that we know what Sun did and why, let’s examine some of the implications for customers, developers, and Sun itself. Needless to say, the ramifications of open source Java technology are sweeping.

For customers, open source Java technology promises a wealth of rewards. By open sourcing the premiere Web platform, customers adopt Java technology with the full confidence that they won’t be locked in to the technology or an implementation. And with Java technology freely available, it will become subject to market forces that help drive competition and reduce prices. Plus, with the ability of Sun and the Java Community Process (JCP) and Java Specification Request (JSR) communities to help steer development, costs will be low for switching from one Java implementation to another.

What’s more, open source Java technology translates into faster innovation. In the open source world, there is more competition from developers looking to build better performing and more feature-rich applications. Ultimately, this will result in better products, lower prices, and a decreased total cost of ownership. Furthermore, these changes will be most tangible in the datacenter — where the priority is to provide the best quality services at the lowest cost — because by using an open source implementation of Java technology, developers will be able to build large, composite enterprise applications at a vastly lower cost.

For developers, open source Java technology delivers increased flexibility and the ability to exploit Sun technology in new and unexpected ways. For a striking example, in Web 2.0 environments, there are many new and dynamic languages (Ruby on Rails comes to mind) that are being developed outside of Sun. Most of these languages run on their own interpreters or virtual machines.

With an open source Java virtual machine, and with Sun and the community working to add support for these dynamic languages, it is possible, if not likely, that the Java language may no longer be the sole beneficiary of the Java virtual machine. In other words, the Java virtual machine may become a reusable technology that can be exploited across many different languages. Developers will get the stability and performance of the Java virtual machine, as well as the ability to use it for their own non-Java applications.

Ultimately, open source promises to bring more developers into the Java technology community, which will result in more competition, increased innovation, and lower costs for customers. It bears repeating — volume drives opportunity and value.

Bob Brewin
CTO, Sun Software and Sun Distinguished Engineer
Sun Microsystems, Inc.