Sun Open Sources Java

[Roberto Mariottini]

Gregor Richards wrote:
> 
> Sun is doing as good a job F/OSS-ing Java as they did F/OSS-ing 
> "Open"Solaris.
> 
> Or, to put it bluntly: Java is not F/OSS. Some chunks of it which are 
> useless in isolation are. It probably never will be wholly F/OSS. The 
> only product Sun has every successfully F/OSS'd is OpenOffice.

You are not up-to-date.

 From the FAQ:

--------------------------------------------
Q:
What is Sun announcing?
A:
Fulfilling its promise to the world exactly one year later, Sun is 
releasing a fully buildable implementation of the JDK in the OpenJDK 
Community.

Specifically:

     * Sun proudly announces that almost all of the JDK is now available 
under the GPL 6.5 million lines of code, one of the largest and most 
important contributions to the Free Software community in history.
     * In conjunction with the NetBeans 6 preview release, Sun has 
created pre-built Netbeans projects to make it easy and intuitive to 
dive into the OpenJDK code base, making NetBeans and Sun Studio the 
gateways to participation in the OpenJDK project.
     * Sun announces the formation of the OpenJDK Interim Governance 
Board with the charter to write and gain ratification for a Constitution 
for the OpenJDK Community, based on transparency and an open, 
meritocratic process. The IGB will invite active participation in this 
process, with the goal that OpenJDK governance will be representative of 
a broad and inclusive consensus reflecting the will of the whole community.
     * Sun is creating a clear process for OpenJDK-based implementations 
of Java SE to test for compatibility starting with implementations of 
Java SE 6, and once certified, to brand their implementations "Java 
Compatible" while still meeting all of their obligations under the GPL. 
This process will advance the "Write Once, Run Anywhere" promise of Java 
Compatibility into the Free and Open Source software world, and 
guarantee that the innovations made possible by OpenJDK remain forever 
available to all.
     * Sun announces a one year roadmap for the OpenJDK initiative, 
including clearing the remaining encumbrances, open sourcing an 
implementation of Java SE 6 and associated deployment code, 
implementation of the compatibility testing and branding program, and 
establishment of the governance and contribution model for the community.

Following on to Sun's November 13, 2006 announcement six months ago of 
the creation of the OpenJDK project and community, and the widely 
acclaimed choice of GPL v2 as the license for Sun's open-source JDK 
initiative, Sun is delivering in only one year on substantially all of 
its promises to the industry. Building on this momentum, Sun has 
solidified its position as the pre-eminent contributor to the F/OSS 
ecosystem.
--------------------------------------------

The JDK is now under the GPL v2, so it IS Free and Open Source.

Ciao