I for one would be interested in understanding what parts of JavaFX are open, and what aren't. openjfx.dev.java.net says that "Sun is committed to open source as part of its business model. Key elements of JavaFX are in open source today" and "The JavaFX compiler and JavaFX tools will continue to be developed in the open". Great. Now, what key elements aren't open that won't be developed in the open?
I initially held out a lot of hope for JavaFX...forget that Sun chose some obscure language that no one has heard of or used instead of using something that already had a community around it (JRuby, Groovy, Jython, Rhino?). Ok, fine. I could live with that if JavaFX truly meant ridding us of the reliance on the horribly buggy and highly proprietary Flash player. Finally a chance to standard on an open (soup to nuts) RIA platform, right? Um...but wait...you mean only "key elements" are open? That sounds a lot like the Flash ecosystem today :( Schwartz's statements yesterday seem to indicate Sun has a different target in mind for JavaFX. While everyone is focused on RIA, it appears Sun is targeting the mobile market. From the CNET announcement (http://tinyurl.com/5bf4so): 'We're making our binaries available" to mobile-phone makers "so we can unify the Java platform implementations," said Schwartz, who expects rapid adoption. "We're starting with a couple billion handsets in the marketplace and swimming downstream. The business case Sun also will charge those handset makers a per-unit royalty for JavaFX, and right now, Sun needs all the revenue it can get. Although Java has been good for Sun's brand, it hasn't been a cash cow, but here again, Schwartz has high expectations. ' Ok, so instead of targeting media plugins like Flash and Silverlight, this makes it sound like it's aimed squarely at Android. Competition is a good thing in the PC market, but I really believe the mobile market needs a Windows-like monopoly for a period of time to really expose the platform to developers and visionaries. Now, I mean Windows-like in a standard platform to develop for...*not* Windows-like in the proprietary nature or the horrible bugginess. Android appears to be a very capable platform, COMPLETELY open, and developer-friendly. I can't think of a better system to standardize upon, and I wish Sun would've just helped push it instead of going against it. Of course, the horrible mess that is J2ME has been a cash cow of theirs for awhile now, and I suppose Android essentially makes that go away. My hope is that JavaFX stays targeted at the web players for RIA and only compliments the Android platform, and that two years from now Android will be the basis for most mobile devices out there. Given that, I think the way we interact with the world around us will change significantly. John --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
