If only they'd done this years earlier

If only they'd done this years earlier

Posted Nov 13, 2006 21:26 UTC (Mon) by AJWM (subscriber, #15888)
In reply to: If only they'd done this years earlier by dwheeler
Parent article: Sun releases Java under GPLv2

>for Java to be useful in applets, you need to have it essentially universally deployed.

And now there's really no reason for it not to be, at least on most platforms. Even if Microsoft chooses not to, there's no reason (well, beyond MSFT strong-arm tactics) for OEMs not to add it on. Certainly any Linux distro would include it.

> I don't know where this puts the GNU Java work,

I don't think there'll be a negative impact on gcj. That's a compile-to-native option that Sun doesn't offer. The opening of Sun's class library will help it.

The GNU Classpath project would seem to be rendered redundant, but I think what we might see is some merging of the Sun and Gnu class libraries to create a "best of both worlds" -- in some cases Sun's implementations are better, in other cases Gnu's. If there are issues with merging Gnu's code into the Sun project (eg Sun wants to be able to dual-license), then Gnu classpath sticks around and may become the favored choice.

As far as compatability testing -- is Sun releasing it's test suite? It still needs to retain control of it for trademark issues.

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