Sun releases Java under GPLv2

Posted Nov 13, 2006 19:01 UTC (Mon) by tjc (guest, #137)
In reply to: Sun releases Java under GPLv2 by bradfitz
Parent article: Sun releases Java under GPLv2

Wow. Time to care about Java again.

Yes it is, at least a little bit.

Hopefully someone will publish a short, concise article about the implications of all this. I tried to read the Sun press release, but my PR/BS filter keeps crashing...

Sun releases Java under GPLv2

Posted Nov 13, 2006 21:12 UTC (Mon) by AJWM (guest, #15888) [Link] (1 responses)

One implication of this is that because it permits all Linux distros to include Java from the get-go, installation and management software can now be built with Java. Said software has been built with other languages in the past (eg Python) so I don't know how much difference this would really make.

It also makes possible (at least from a license standpoint) tighter integration of the JVM with the kernel, or kernel optimizatons to support the JVM, to improve Java performance. Whether the kernel devs think this is a good idea or not is another issue.

Sun releases Java under GPLv2

Posted Nov 13, 2006 22:53 UTC (Mon) by bojan (subscriber, #14302) [Link]

Yeah, all good points. My notebook currently displays this, when "java -version" is run:

------------------------
java version "1.4.2"
gij (GNU libgcj) version 4.1.1 20061011 (Red Hat 4.1.1-30)

I'm hoping that in the future this will be replaced by something like:

------------------------
java version "1.7.3"
gij (GNU libgcj) version 5.2.3 20081113 (Red Hat 5.2.3-25)
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.7.3_07-b01)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.7.3_07-b01, mixed mode, sharing)

Hey, one can dream, right? ;-)

PR/BS filters

Posted Nov 14, 2006 3:32 UTC (Tue) by xoddam (subscriber, #2322) [Link] (2 responses)

> I tried to read the Sun press release, but my PR/BS filter
> keeps crashing...

Would you care to file a proper bug report?

PR/BS filters

Posted Nov 14, 2006 15:27 UTC (Tue) by tjc (guest, #137) [Link] (1 responses)

Would you care to file a proper bug report?

I wouldn't know where to file it. :-)

Every press release I've ever read is the same:

"[company name] is proud to announce blah blah blah..."

After a few seconds I realize that my attention has drifted, so I start over, but a few second later I'm back to "blah blah blah."

Since press releases are so much the same, I wonder if one couldn't come up with a heuristic algorithm to filter out all the crap. For example, one would a PR as input, the the program would output something like "Sun releases Java SE, ME, and EE under the GPL, version 2."

PR/BS filters

Posted Nov 14, 2006 19:28 UTC (Tue) by bronson (subscriber, #4806) [Link]

That would be an AWESOME natural language algorithm. Please, somebody invent it. I'd use it daily.