Money and Android. That's what this is all about. Just remember that Oracle has bought out Sun Microsystems. So wherever you see "Sun" think "Oracle."
There's a lot of backstory. So let's start with this: Java 2.6 SE JSR 270. http://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=270 The relevant paragraph is this one: "7. Nothing in the licensing terms will prevent open source projects from creating and distributing their own compatible open source implementations of Java SE 6, using standard open source licenses. [...] " Sounds good right? Apache wrote an open letter to Sun at the time about this provision: http://www.apache.org/jcp/sunopenletter.html "Since August 2006, the ASF has been attempting to secure an acceptable license from Sun for the test kit for Java SE. This test kit, called the "Java Compatibility Kit" or "JCK", is needed by the Apache Harmony project to demonstrate its compatibility with the Java SE specification, as required by Sun's specification license. The JCK license Sun is offering imposes IP rights restrictions through limits on the "field of use" available to users of our software." What "field of use" limitations are imposed by Oracle/Sun? http://www.apache.org/jcp/sunopenletterfaq.html "To give a concrete example from the Sun / Apache dispute, if Apache accepted Sun's terms, then users of a standard, tested build of Apache Harmony for Linux on a standard general purpose x86-based computer (for example, a Dell desktop) would be prevented from freely using that software and that hardware in any application where the computer was placed in an enclosed cabinet, like an information kiosk at a shopping mall, or an X-ray machine at an airport." Apache argues that a "field of use" limitation in the JCK prohibits free software implementations of a Java VM with both the GPL, ASL, and Open Source / Free software in general. "See the Open Source Initiative's open source definition (http://www.opensource.org/docs/osd), most notably section 6 and 10 and the Free Software Foundation's free software definition (http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html) most notably freedom #0." To summarize, in order to obtain the necessary patent rights to release your very own JVM, you must obtain the Java Compatibility Kit, which Oracle is refusing to release in a way that allows for an open source license, even though the specification document stated otherwise. Got it? Now you're asking: how does this relate to Android? http://www.infoq.com/news/2010/08/oracle_sues_google "Oracle filed a copyright and patent infringement claim against Google over its Android operating system." "The core Java libraries in Android are based on Apache Harmony, an open source/free Java implementation from the Apache Software Foundation. As such Google's Android SDK implementation is largely independent of Oracle's, and Google doesn't pay Oracle any money for its use of Java." On Fri, 2010-12-10 at 09:50 -0500, Vern Ceder wrote: > It means, in short, that there are interesting times ahead for > Java... since clearly Oracle doesn't "get" (or at least buy into) what > open source means. In the short term, as Travis suggests, one way or > another there will be some Java one can use. In the long term, if > being "open" matters to you, Java will become an increasingly > complicated choice. > > > Vern > > On Fri, Dec 10, 2010 at 9:25 AM, Jonathan Bartels > <[email protected]> wrote: > > http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/12/apache-resigns-from-jcp-in-protest-of-oracle-governance-failures.ars > > What does mean, if anything, for the future of Java? Quite > frankly a > lot of this goes way over my head. I'm hoping someone here > might be > able to help me figure out what impact this could have on mere > developers like me. > > -- > ----- > Jonathan Bartels > > _______________________________________________ > Fwlug mailing list > [email protected] > http://fortwaynelug.org/mailman/listinfo/fwlug_fortwaynelug.org > > This is a public list and all posts are archived publicly. > Please keep this in mind before posting. > > > > -- > Vern Ceder > [email protected], [email protected] > The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW > > > > _______________________________________________ > Fwlug mailing list > [email protected] > http://fortwaynelug.org/mailman/listinfo/fwlug_fortwaynelug.org > > This is a public list and all posts are archived publicly. Please keep this > in mind before posting. _______________________________________________ Fwlug mailing list [email protected] http://fortwaynelug.org/mailman/listinfo/fwlug_fortwaynelug.org This is a public list and all posts are archived publicly. Please keep this in mind before posting.
