First, IANAL. My guess is that your hypothetical OpenPL2 based on OpenJDK would be completely in the clear on copyright grounds, but completely *not* in the clear on patent grounds (since you're removing the core Java libraries).
You probably want to start at http://openjdk.java.net/legal/, especially http://openjdk.java.net/legal/openjdk-tck-license.pdf. It specifically disallows subsets and supersets of the "Licensor Name Space," meaning the Java core classes and interfaces. You need the TCK license to get the patent grants, and you can't get the TCK license if your derivative fails to pass the compatibility tests. The "GPL v2 with Classpath Exception" only gives you the necessary copyright license, not any patent license. The Apache Harmony project has been loudly protesting the IP licensing situation for a while now. Implementing a JVM alternative won't necessarily protect you from Oracle's lawyers either. It's certainly not protecting Google; Dalvik is itself a JVM alternative, after all, and that's what Oracle is suing them over. I hope my theory is completely wrong, because the situation kinda sucks for the open-source community (and arguably the IT industry as a whole) if I'm right. Keith On Sep 9, 3:52 pm, Jan Goyvaerts <[email protected]> wrote: > Interesting... so, in theory, any organisation with sufficient funds and > expertise might actually pull it off to create a serious VM language. It > would be the right time for that. > > But I guess it would be risky to claim PL/2 happens to be able to use any > already existing Java libraries ? > > On Thu, Sep 9, 2010 at 21:12, Kevin Wright <[email protected]> wrote: > > Unless somebody had a trademark on "PL2", they might still come after > > you... > > > On 9 September 2010 20:09, Reinier Zwitserloot <[email protected]> wrote: > > >> In theory, they wouldn't come, as that's legit according to the > >> license. You do have to give full credit and you'd have to release it > >> under the GPL as well. > > >> IANAL. > > >> On Sep 9, 8:38 pm, Jan Goyvaerts <[email protected]> wrote: > >> > I know there has been *many* messages already about last day events > >> > regarding to the future of Java. Although certainly inspired by it, I > >> have a > >> > question that is not about Java or any other language. So please, > >> *don't* waste > >> > this thread into something else. Thanks. > >> > * > >> > * > >> > * * > >> > Suppose I want to create a new programming language PL/2, whatever my > >> > reasons for that... > > >> > 1) I download OpenJDK (I know it's great). > >> > 2) I rename every "java" into "pl2". (I know I can't call it "Java"). > >> > 3) I republish the thing as an open source project OpenPL2. > > >> > How fast can I expect lawyers to knock on my door ? > > >> -- > >> 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]<javaposse%[email protected]> > >> . > >> For more options, visit this group at > >>http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en. > > > -- > > Kevin Wright > > > mail / gtalk / msn : [email protected] > > pulse / skype: kev.lee.wright > > twitter: @thecoda > > > -- > > 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]<javaposse%[email protected]> > > . > > For more options, visit this group at > >http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en. -- 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.
