I agree with the first part, there doesn't seem to be much of a problem because Google does not claim that Android is Java (TM). On the other hand, there *may* be a case to answer with respect to AppEngine, which does claim to be a Java runtime but in fact runs a heavily modified version of Sun's JRE 1.6 that would never pass the JCK. However they are probably off the hook with this as well, since the runtime is not distributed to users.
Your reasoning about the absence of a Java 7 JSR is a bit screwy. There's no JSR for Java 7 yet because Sun refused to allow Harmony access to the JCK, in violation of the JCP participation agreement. As a result, the Apache Foundation and other JCP Executive Committee members (including Oracle before they bought Sun!) resolved not to allow any umbrella JSRs (i.e. JSRs defining a new JRE version such as Java 7, 8 etc) to pass. Even Sun with its special status in the JCP did not have the power to force through a JSR in the face of a majority of the Executive Committee voting against it. The fact that Android uses Harmony seems to be neither here nor there -- as already noted, Google does not claim that Android is Java and therefore they do not need to pass the JCK which would allow use of the Java trademark. Note that Apache goes one step further and votes against *all* JSRs until the JCK issue is resolved, i.e. not just umbrella ones, which is a measure you may or may not agree with... I simply wish that Oracle would start to clarify what they intend to do about this issue. The Java community has been giving them the benefit of the doubt, because we understand big acquisitions take time to integrate and they have had other priorities. But for goodness sake, the deal closed 6 months ago, and in that time there has been precisely zero news about some of the biggest questions regarding the future of Java. How will the JCP be governed? Will Harmony be allowed access to the JCK without field of use restrictions? Will there ever be a Java 7 JSR, or is the JCP no longer relevant to the future of Java? Will Project Jigsaw be dropped? Neil On Jul 22, 10:42 pm, Mark Derricutt <[email protected]> wrote: > I don't see how they could. Unlike MS they're not "changing" java. > > However - I do see Google as the number 1 reason for us not having a > (*&#((* JAVA 7 JSR yet. All because Android is Apache Harmony under > the covers, and if they relaxed the field of use restrictions like > Apache wants, then Android can call themselves Java without having to > pay licensing ( or something I believe ). > > I'd love to know some more concrete details of the implications ( I > could be totally wrong on things here ). > > -- > Pull me down under... > > On Fri, Jul 23, 2010 at 8:13 AM, [email protected] > > > > <[email protected]> wrote: > > I listened to the latest podcast and there was a lot of discussion > > about how Oracle could go after Google because Android is an alternate > > java implementation. What is the basis for this? -- 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.
