Sun has open sourced Java under the GPL. What this means is that now the source code will be available for modifications, repackaging and redistribution, but maybe under a different name. The community had been demanding this for long, in fact alternate open source implementations have already begun. This open source can cause further forks, but overall it will work in favor of the Java community with more innovative approaches possible.
Specifically, Java SE, ME and Glassfish have been released under GPL v2. This can mean Java and Linux can become closer friends. Floyd Marinescu has more details on this.
Scoble wonders whether Microsoft will respond to this. Microsoft will have to face this on two fronts - one is popularity of Java over .Net and popularity of Linux over Windows within Java community. I think this will affect IBM and even Sun Microsystems itself in terms of their approaches and attitudes towards the Java and open source communities. This can also impact the Java Community Process (JCP), which has been bypassed by a lot of open source projects. The problem with the Java community has been mostly with getting all the interested parties on the same ground. Open sourcing Java will definitely take this to a better position. Schedule your calendar for a live webcast by Jonathan Schwartz and Rich Green for more updates.
November 14th, 2006 at 8:59 pm
[...] ICEfaces - AJAX framework for Java EE - has been open sourced (via Ajaxian). Check out its new home. ICEfaces is an extension of the JavaServer Faces technology and is hence inherently server based. It does not have any requirements on the client side. Earlier the community edition had been opened up for the developers. This is a welcome news for the Java community coupled with the news of Sun opening up Java. [...]
May 9th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
[...] Microsystems has open sourced JDK under GPL v2 as promised. The announcement was made the ongoing 2007 JavaOne Conference. The JDK is now available and is [...]
November 13th, 2007 at 10:19 pm
[...] Java based IDEs. The news today is about how Google worked around Sun’s tactics. Sun has opened up the Java standard edition, but has IP-based licensing restrictions for J2ME, the mobile [...]
January 16th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
[...] for Sun in multiple ways. Sun is slowly increasing the open source product offerings, either by open sourcing its products or buying the existing ones. It will be interesting to see what comes out of this relationship and [...]
June 20th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
[...] hype around open sourcing of Java has mostly died down after the announcement. Not many have followed it up. Red Hat had started the IcedTea project to remove the last obstacle [...]