Page II: Sun Microsystems is grappling with applying an open-source philosophy to its Java software as the company weighs risks and benefits over whether it should jump in further or not. But some experts are suggesting a middle ground.
A key reason why Sun has expressed reluctance to make Java open source is compatibility -- the guarantee that a Java program will run on any Java software foundation. It's not an academic concern: Sun fought for years with Microsoft after the software giant added extensions to Java that broke compatibility. If Java were open source, it also would permit people to create incompatible versions of that software.
At the same time, the open-source community is thriving, and much Java development -- including the Tomcat and Geronimo projects for running Java server software -- is taking place in the open-source realm.
Tomcat and Geronimo fall under the auspices of the Apache Software Foundation. That group negotiated a way to work with the JCP's standardisation and to pass Java's Technology Compatibility Kit (TCK) tests without sacrificing its open-source designs. But Apache co-founder Brian Behlendorf said at the debate that he believed it's possible to mix the liberal open-source realm with the stricter compatibility tests.
Project organisers who want to claim compatibility and thereby use the Java trademark should need to pass the TCK, Behlendorf said. But that shouldn't shut down other avenues for development: "Creating derivative works that don't pass is a natural part of the open-source process," he said.
But Java's compatibility isn't perfect either, undermining the "write once, run anywhere" promise of Java, Behlendorf added. Software written for one company's Java foundation often has to be reworked for another's because they have different performance features. For example, one Java foundation might be slower at using the Java Message Service for sending messages from one system to another.
A step in the right direction
Behlendorf also suggested Sun could move closer to the open-source world by employing more open-source compatibility kits and reference implementations -- the example, software that each extension to Java must have, to prove it works.
"We'd like to see more willingness on the part of the Java Community Process to allow for true open-source implementations of Core Java and other Java standards," Behlendorf said.
13%
1%
