Subject: Java continues to ride the open-source wave

From: "NW on Linux" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 08 Nov 2006 18:40:00 -0600

Linux and Open Source

This newsletter is sponsored by MKS Software

New High Performance PC X Server from MKS
The new MKS X/Server is designed to be the ideal solution for interoperability of PCs and UNIX/Linux systems. The MKS X Server matches the performance and quality of Hummingbird Exceed at less then half the cost of Exceed. Click here to try it now! FREE EVAL!

Best Practices for Application Delivery to Branch Offices

Grow your business, not your budget
Application networking ensures your branch offices quickly and securely get the resources they need without adding duplicate equipment, costs and staff. Click here to view this Network World Webcast and see how real-world enterprises are gaining an advantage over their competition with application networking.

Network World's Linux and Open Source Newsletter, 11/08/06

Java continues to ride the open-source wave

By Phil Hochmuth

Sun and the Java world are hurtling towards the date — albeit still undetermined — when Java code is released to the open source community. Already surfacing are some details are how this will go down, what impact it could have, and how various industries are reacting.

Many open-source Java users are already taking advantage of Sun's more established GlassFish project, where the Java Platform Enterprise Edition (Java EE) application server is offered as an open-source package.

Sun announced last month that it would open source the rest of its Java technology — specifically, Java Platform Standard Edition (Java SE) and its Java Platform Micro Edition (ME) — "within 30 to 60 days." The goal behind the open-sourcing of the key components of these Java platforms is to boost interest in the platforms among developers and users. Releasing Java code to the open source community could also lead to better-performing Java apps on a wider array of platforms, industry observers say.

Having all flavors of Java out in the open-source world should result in better-written, and smoother-running cross-platform Java applications, running on everything from data center servers, to desktop PCs and handheld computers.

Since it announced its 30-to-60-day plan, it's emerged that Sun is looking at the Community Development and Distribution License (CDDL) as the possible open-source license for its Java platforms. CCDL is the license Sun uses in its open-source Solaris project; the license is a derivative of the Mozilla Public License, and recognized by the Open Source Initiative — the arbiter of open-source licensing.

Meanwhile, Motorola is rolling with its own open-source Java efforts, in advance of Sun's open-sourcing of Java ME, used widely by device makers such as Motorola for cell phone/hand-held device software. Motorola says it is already plans to build an open-source community around Java ME, but says it will to use the Apace open source licensing model for this effort. (It is unclear, presently, if Motorola and Sun's efforts will conflict or complement each other.)

Contact the author:

Phil Hochmuth is a Network World Senior Editor and a former systems integrator. You can reach him at [email-masked].

This newsletter is sponsored by PowerFile

New Life for Dead Storage Technologies: Consumer-Driven Optical Storage in the Data Center
This paper will address how consumer-driven technologies, such as DVD and its next generation blue laser counterparts, rather than "enterprise optical", are leading to a coming rebirth of optical technology in the enterprise. It will examine: (a) why optical technologies have failed to take meaningful hold in enterprises, (b) how changes in market demand can only be uniquely addressed by optical-based systems, and (c) how new storage architectures are overcoming key issues holding back optical in the enterprise.

ARCHIVE

Archive of the Linux and Open Source Newsletter.

ProCurve Networking by HP

Unify your wireless and wired networks
Why run separate networks? Watch our Webcast and get real-work guidance from experts on how to realize true network integration. Find out what unification should really mean in the context of your Ethernet network and how you can optimize your infrastructure for easier provisioning, management and troubleshooting.

BONUS FEATURE

Network World Buyer’s Guide is a one-stop shop for IT product research

We've collected detailed information on over a thousand products and present them in a completely searchable format. With over close to 90 distinct product categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure, convergence and applications markets listed here, you can drill down, compare and contrast offerings in any area you desire. Click here for details.

PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE
You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered to your inbox each day. Extend your knowledge with a print subscription to the Network World newsweekly, Apply here today.

International subscribers, click here.

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES

To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here.

This message was sent to: [email-masked]. Please use this address when modifying your subscription.

Editorial comments: Write to Site Editor Jeff Caruso
Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza

Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772

Copyright Network World, Inc., 2006