4 ms·

Oracle sticks to Sun's open source strategy for Java

14 points by abp 16y ago

heresy 16y ago
For now.
- ddfall 16y ago
  Seems it'll be one of those 'wait and see' sort of things...
sukuriant 16y ago
Forgive me for this sort of post, but am I the only one that felt like this article ended without a conclusion? Did I miss something like a second page, or did this really end on 'and Google responded to the charges by missing JavaOne' when the article was on Oracle's OSS stance?
- abp 16y ago
  Hm, the claims against Google Android was fuel on a little fire. Before that it was just like "oh no Oracle is killing Java". After that it was "oh no Oracle is killing Java and sueing everything OSS". :)
- Someone 16y ago
  I think it is written in a style of 'most important info at the top'. That makes the story fizzle out. In summary: Paragraph one points to a blog post <http://blogs.oracle.com/henrik/2010/09/oracle_and_openjdk.html&#62 http://blogs.oracle.com/henrik/2010/09/oracle_and_openjdk.ht...; that describes that Oracle will continue with Java 'business as usual'. (aside: I think HN should link to that blog directly). Paragraph two gives a tiny bit more info. Paragraph three give some background info that most HN readers probably already know. For me, the main open question is whether we should be happy or sad that Oracle promises to "work with the OpenJDK code base and the OpenJDK community like Sun did"?
  - abp 16y ago
    (aside: I think HN should link to that blog directly) http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1697347 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1697347
rbanffy 16y ago
Oracle cant't really kill OpenJDK. Not more than they can kill MySQL. What Oracle can do is to split Java and make the JDK 7 implementation proprietary and incompatible with OpenJDK. They can kill Java, if they are dumb enough.
- protomyth 16y ago
  There is really no profit motive to killing the OpenJDK. There is a profit motive for killing MySQL. Whatever else you want to say about Oracle, betting on their desire for profit is a pretty good prediction strategy.
  - Teckla 16y ago
    > There is really no profit motive to killing the OpenJDK. They could change the licensing on future versions of OpenJDK. Perhaps free for academic and non-commercial use only. And then attempt to monetize the JDK for commercial development. I'm not saying it's likely to happen, just that it could happen, and it's these kinds of worries that are making Java developers uncomfortable. I should know, I'm one of them. It would be in Oracle's best interest, and in the best interest of Java developers, if they make their position on the JDK absolutely crystal clear. And soon. It sounds like they might do that at JavaOne, but I fear they won't communicate their plans with the kind of crystal clarity I would like, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
    - rbanffy 16y ago
      > They could change the licensing on future versions of OpenJDK Possibly, but they couldn't change the license of the current version. Relicensing it under more restrictive terms would only prompt an immediate fork of the current codebase and focus developer attention on duplicating features of whatever Oracle decides to launch. Larry makes some enemies, from time to time, but, in this case, I can't see a good reason for him to do it.

14 points by abp 16y ago

heresy 16y ago

For now.

ddfall 16y ago
Seems it'll be one of those 'wait and see' sort of things...

sukuriant 16y ago

Forgive me for this sort of post, but am I the only one that felt like this article ended without a conclusion? Did I miss something like a second page, or did this really end on 'and Google responded to the charges by missing JavaOne' when the article was on Oracle's OSS stance?

abp 16y ago
Hm, the claims against Google Android was fuel on a little fire. Before that it was just like "oh no Oracle is killing Java". After that it was "oh no Oracle is killing Java and sueing everything OSS". :)
Someone 16y ago
I think it is written in a style of 'most important info at the top'. That makes the story fizzle out. In summary: Paragraph one points to a blog post <http://blogs.oracle.com/henrik/2010/09/oracle_and_openjdk.html&#62 http://blogs.oracle.com/henrik/2010/09/oracle_and_openjdk.ht...; that describes that Oracle will continue with Java 'business as usual'. (aside: I think HN should link to that blog directly). Paragraph two gives a tiny bit more info. Paragraph three give some background info that most HN readers probably already know. For me, the main open question is whether we should be happy or sad that Oracle promises to "work with the OpenJDK code base and the OpenJDK community like Sun did"?
- abp 16y ago
  (aside: I think HN should link to that blog directly) http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1697347 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1697347

rbanffy 16y ago

Oracle cant't really kill OpenJDK. Not more than they can kill MySQL. What Oracle can do is to split Java and make the JDK 7 implementation proprietary and incompatible with OpenJDK. They can kill Java, if they are dumb enough.

protomyth 16y ago
There is really no profit motive to killing the OpenJDK. There is a profit motive for killing MySQL. Whatever else you want to say about Oracle, betting on their desire for profit is a pretty good prediction strategy.
- Teckla 16y ago
  > There is really no profit motive to killing the OpenJDK. They could change the licensing on future versions of OpenJDK. Perhaps free for academic and non-commercial use only. And then attempt to monetize the JDK for commercial development. I'm not saying it's likely to happen, just that it could happen, and it's these kinds of worries that are making Java developers uncomfortable. I should know, I'm one of them. It would be in Oracle's best interest, and in the best interest of Java developers, if they make their position on the JDK absolutely crystal clear. And soon. It sounds like they might do that at JavaOne, but I fear they won't communicate their plans with the kind of crystal clarity I would like, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
  - rbanffy 16y ago
    > They could change the licensing on future versions of OpenJDK Possibly, but they couldn't change the license of the current version. Relicensing it under more restrictive terms would only prompt an immediate fork of the current codebase and focus developer attention on duplicating features of whatever Oracle decides to launch. Larry makes some enemies, from time to time, but, in this case, I can't see a good reason for him to do it.