Sun releases Java under GPLv2 license

The Inquirer wrote:

SUN MICROSYSTEMS will announce today that its Java language, contrary to the prediction of many pundits, will be offered as pure "Free Software" -as Richard Stallman would say "free as in freedom"- under a GPL version two licence.

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I think this is quite a bold but smart move on SUN's behalf.

I hope this breathes new life into the project, which lately has been recieving an unkindly beating from Microsoft's .NET programming technology.

Discuss.


Regards,
Vincent

Excellent news.
Joshua Marinacci's blog

Webcast today at 9h30 am

I'm surprised Sun didn't do it sooner.  How much money does Sun spend on Java a year?  Do they even make any money?  Do they actually have customers buying anything from them?  Maybe they will go out of business soon.

Sun is making a slow comeback with their new Sparc and AMD workstations, servers, etc. Their stock is steadily rising as a result.

News like this certainly doesnt hurt either.


Regards,
Vincent

This is really great news. 


Sooooo.... I wonder if this means that Microsoft could distribute a Java runtime with a future version of Windows?  Also, I wonder if Eclipse will follow suit and become GPL as well?  

warren wrote:

This is really great news. 

Sooooo.... I wonder if this means that Microsoft could distribute a Java runtime with a future version of Windows?  Also, I wonder if Eclipse will follow suit and become GPL as well?  

Yes, Microsoft could do that. But I seriously doubt they will. They want developers to use their .NET 3.0 platform on Vista. Plus there is the GPL situation; how many GPL licensed components have you've seen included in Windows?

Eclipse is already open-source. I'm not sure changing it to GPL would be much of a value added proposition.


Regards,
Vincent

Xaero_Vincent wrote:

Sun is making a slow comeback with their new Sparc and AMD workstations, servers, etc. Their stock is steadily rising as a result.

News like this certainly doesnt hurt either.


Regards,
Vincent

I guess that is where I am confused.  How does this news help Sun?  They failed to monetize Java, so by open sourcing it they can minimize their future investment in it?  Will this allow them to cut costs and get out of the software world and focus on selling hardware?  And on the hardware front how do they compete with the likes of Dell?

z33driver wrote:

I guess that is where I am confused.  How does this news help Sun?  They failed to monetize Java, so by open sourcing it they can minimize their future investment in it?  Will this allow them to cut costs and get out of the software world and focus on selling hardware?  And on the hardware front how do they compete with the likes of Dell?

My interpretation from various blog responses is:

A) Minimize their investement on Java development.
B) Gain full acceptance in the open-source community.
C) Implement (better) professional support services.


Regards,
Vincent

Well, I don't like this news... I am currently learning java and I've planned to use it as servlet pages, but if this happens I'll probably just forget Java (and use some shitty interpreted language instead).

I hate GPL; Java should be licensed under BSD or MIT license. It's so egoistic. In my opinion GPL isn't open source - it's just some greedy frustrated anti-ms viral license whose code I can't modify and maybe make some money. (If I released freeware it would be BSD - and I would be happy (and proud) if someone managed to get some money out of it).

RoyalSchrubber wrote:



Well, I don't like this news... I am currently learning java and I've planned to use it as servlet pages, but if this happens I'll probably just forget Java (and use some shitty interpreted language instead).

I hate GPL; Java should be licensed under BSD or MIT license. It's so egoistic. In my opinion GPL isn't open source - it's just some greedy frustrated anti-ms viral license whose code I can't modify and maybe make some money. (If I released freeware it would be BSD - and I would be happy (and proud) if someone managed to get some money out of it).

Java being GPL does not affect any of the code you write.  You can write proprietary code using GPL tools.  If you modify the Java VM or compiler and want to re-distribute them then that is fine.

It is quite scarey how many people think that using a tool that is GPL means you have to release anything you write, using that tool, as GPL. You don't.

I know that you can use it (to run and develop your apps). But you can't modify code without re-releasing code under GPL.

Damn, I hate GPL... folks please use openbsd or freebsd or whatever bsd code instead of linux (if you have to use unixes)...

RoyalSchrubber wrote:

I know that you can use it (to run and develop your apps). But you can't modify code without re-releasing code under GPL.

You can't modify the VM or the compiler.  You couldn't do this *before* it was GPL, so I don't see what the issue is? Do you intend to modify the VM?

Let me see if i can make it clearer - You can release *your* code under any licence you wish, you cannot modify Sun's code and distribute it without GPL'ing the code that you added to the VM or the compiler.

I know that, I just wish Java (VM, Compiler and other stuff) would be released under BSD license.

Java has bugs...?

eagle wrote:

Java has bugs...?

It always used to when I was using it.  Some horrible horrible bugs that Sun just refused, or were unable, to fix, although with the core libraries rather than the VM.  Even Microsoft are not immune from bugs though ... 

RoyalSchrubber wrote:



Well, I don't like this news... I am currently learning java and I've planned to use it as servlet pages, but if this happens I'll probably just forget Java (and use some shitty interpreted language instead).

I hate GPL; Java should be licensed under BSD or MIT license. It's so egoistic. In my opinion GPL isn't open source - it's just some greedy frustrated anti-ms viral license whose code I can't modify and maybe make some money. (If I released freeware it would be BSD - and I would be happy (and proud) if someone managed to get some money out of it).

If Java were under a non-copyleft license like BSD, Microsoft could take Java's code and integrate it into their own platform (.NET, etc.). Yet Java couldn't take any of the .NET code because it isn't open-source under the GPL or a compatable license.

The GPL ensures that a typical FOSS developer's work stays in the community and not rap3d by corporate entities, who wouldn't give anything back in return.


Regards,
Vincent

eagle wrote:

Java has bugs...?

lol - no, neither does windows or .net

Xaero_Vincent wrote:

I hope this breathes new life into the project, which lately has been recieving an unkindly beating from Microsoft's .NET programming technology.

The last time I checked, C/C++ and Java were still leading the pack, not .NET.