Sun Opens Up Java To Open Source

Quietly last week, on the eve of its JavaOne conference in San Francisco, Sun Microsystems published a "letter of intent" that will make it easier for developers to build open-source versions of key Java specifications.

The change in direction, slated to be announced at the show today, came in response to discussions with the Apache Software Foundation, which had been lobbying Sun and its Java Community Process (JCP) organization to create open-source Java platforms.

Sun has been criticized for its half-hearted approach to open sourcing Java via the JCP, which let more companies participate in the creation of the Java platform, but stopped well short of the kind of open-source licenses advocates such as the Apache group have called for.

According to the Apache group, Sun has "pledged" to use licenses that let all of its Java specifications and test suites be implemented as open source-including current and future Java specs.

Jason Hunter, Apache vice president to the Java Community Process, said in a statement his group will be "closely monitoring" whether Sun lives up to its promises.

The ad-hoc, open source Apache group produces the extremely popular Apache Web server, as well as a wide array of Java-based implementations under the Jakarta Project, including the Tomcat application server, Ant development tool, and more.

Hunter says open-source developers have been granted the right by Sun to freely implement Java specs, test kits, and reference implementations in open source. The agreement also calls for Java specifications to be created more publicly and for free access to core Java test kits to be provided for free to open-source, non-profit, and academic groups.

Initially, Sun will enforce these changes via the just-released letter of intent. Longer term, Sun has agreed to revise the legal agreement companies sign when joining the Java Community Process.