IBM steps into open-source Java project
Published: July 21, 2005, 9:58 AM PDT
By Martin LaMonica
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
http://news.com.com/IBM+steps+into+open-source+Java+project/2100-7344_3-5798290.html
IBM has begun participating in open-source Java project Harmony and
intends to contribute code to the initiative, according to a Big Blue
executive.
In the past week, IBM has dedicated an employee to working with the
proposed open-source project, which is being done at the Apache Software
Foundation, said Rod Smith, vice president of advanced technology at IBM.
At this point, IBM's participation is limited to thoughts on design, but
the company likely will contribute code to the project, Smith said.
"I think you'll see some code down the road. I'm sure you will. But
right now, it's getting involved in some of the ideas and design they're
trying to put together," he said. "We have some ideas on that, and
hopefully that can be incorporated in the whole Harmony strategy."
Harmony was launched in May to create an open-source edition of Java
Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE), the software needed to run Java
programs on desktop PCs.
Smith said that IBM chose to wait before jumping in until the project's
direction and goals were clearer.
"We really like to see the community get started, and they're still
working out the rough edges of what they want to deliver. And we didn't
want to disrupt that," he said.
IBM has long made it clear that it would like an open-source edition of
Java. Last year, Smith sent an open letter to Rob Gingell, then-vice
president at Sun Microsystems, urging the company to open source Java.
Sun has stopped short of doing that because open-source editions of Java
could fragment the standard and cause compatibility problems, according
to Sun executives. Sun has, however, changed its licensing policies,
making it easier to see the Java SE code and make contributions to it.
Until now, neither IBM nor Java steward Sun have formally participated
in the project, although employees from both companies have voiced their
support.
In developer circles, however, there has already been speculation that
IBM would participate in Harmony and contribute potentially significant
portions of code.
IBM already has its own Java virtual machine--one of the components of
Java SE--and a great deal of expertise in Java. In May, it acquired
open-source Java application server company Gluecode, which employs
open-source Java experts including Geir Magnusson Jr., one of the
submitters of Project Harmony.
To unsubscribe send a blank mail to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bdlug/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
