13.November.2006—Sun believes deeply in creating communities and sharing innovations and technologies to foster more participation. Today in a historic move, Sun is opening the door to greater innovation by open sourcing key Java implementations—Java Platform Standard Edition (Java SE), Java Platform Micro Edition (Java ME), and Java Platform Enterprise Edition (Java EE)—under the GNU General Public License version 2 (GPLv2), the same license as GNU/Linux.
Sun is now the biggest contributor to the open-source community. Already Sun has released open-source implementations of its Solaris Operating System, NetBeans, Project Looking Glass, Project JXTA, Jini, OpenOffice, OpenSPARC, and Java EE technologies and is continuing on its path to open all of its middleware. By adding a second GPLv2 license to Java EE, which was previously available under the CDDL license through Project Glassfish, Sun is now open sourcing all core Java technologies under the same license.
Through this move, Sun is helping to:
Fuel innovation and build broader developer communities by enabling interested Java developers, as well as developers in the GNU/Linux community, to contribute more easily to the evolution of Java technology
Drive faster evolution of the Java platform and adoption by new developers and in new markets while ensuring platform quality and flexibility
Allow the 5 million Java developers worldwide to leverage platform enhancements and speed time to market for new applications
Enlisting the World to Innovate
For the past 11 years, Java technology has enabled developers to Write Once, Run Anywhere. Sun’s commitment to compatibility and choice has made Java the most widely deployed application platform. Java technology is currently used on more than 4 billion devices worldwide, and the Java ME platform ships on more than eight of every 10 mobile handsets.
Sun believes Java technology has reached the right level of maturity, adoption, and innovation—with widespread use across enterprises and devices—to move into the next stage of its evolution. In the largest single contribution under the GNU GPL, Sun is releasing all of its key Java implementations under this widely respected free-software license:
Open-Source Java SE: Today Sun is releasing the source code for the Java HotSpot virtual machine, the Java programming language compiler (javac), and JavaHelp online help software. Release of a fully buildable Java SE Development Kit (JDK) based nearly entirely on open-source code is expected in the first half of 2007.
Open-Source Java ME: Sun is first releasing the source code for Sun’s Java ME Feature Phone implementation based on Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC), which currently enables rich mobile data services in more than 1.5 billion handsets, and the source code for the Java ME testing and compatibility kit (TCK) framework. Later this year, Sun will release additional source code for the Advanced Operating System Phone implementation for based on the Connected Device Configuration (CDC) specification and the framework for the Java Device Test Suite.
New Developer Communities: Tapping its experience in building dynamic and transparent open-source communities, Sun is launching the OpenJDK Community and the Mobile & Embedded Community to support developer participation in evolving the open-source JDK and open-source Java ME implementations respectively.
Developers wanting to get started right away can take advantage of the best tool for open-source Java application development: the NetBeans Integrated Development Environment (IDE). The NetBeans IDE provides complete support for the entire Java platform, from Java ME to Java SE to Java EE. To further speed time to market, Sun is also providing pre-built NetBeans projects at netbeans.org for the Java language components being open sourced and is making the Sun Studio development environment available at developers.sun.com/sunstudio for the native Java language components.
Open-Source Opportunities
By open sourcing its Java implementations, Sun will open new market opportunities, fuel innovation, and drive broader adoption of this Web 2.0 platform while minimizing fragmentation in the mobile community by delivering a consistent application platform across devices.
Developers and ISVs can build differentiated Java technology-based applications and value-added Web. 2.0 services more quickly through access to the latest Java source code.
Developers can improve platform quality and functionality by contributing feature enhancements, bug fixes, and testing results to the open-source Java initiatives.
Customers can lower costs and protect technology investments by taking full advantage of open-source business models that allow for free substitution of alternative operating systems, architectures, middleware, and devices on industry-standard hardware.
Governments and educational institutions can reap the benefits of open-source Java technologies while ensuring security, privacy, and datacenter control.
GNU/Linux distributors can add no-cost Java implementations to their distributions, while customers with stringent open-source requirements can deploy a free, reliable Java software stack on most GNU/Linux distributions.
Sun is taking careful and deliberate action as it open sources its Java technology implementations to help ensure that Java remains a central unifying standard for the Internet. Whether developers and customers choose to use Sun’s commercial Java platforms or new open-source implementations, Java technology will continue to deliver the compatibility, stability, and quality required to turn Web 2.0 advancements into competitive advantage.
Go to sun.com/opensource/java for more information.