Analysis: Sun Opens Up Java

By releasing Java as open-source code, Sun Microsystems might be removing one of the biggest obstacles to accelerated adoption of the development technology: Sun Microsystems itself.

With more than five million developers around the world using Java today and Java running on 3.8 billion computers, cellphones, consumer electronics and other devices, no one would consider the development technology a bust. But Sun executives have taken notice of the six million-plus downloads of Sun's Solaris in the one year since Sun began offering it as open-source and recognized the potential.

"Open source delivers volume, and volume delivers value," says Juan Carlos Soto, Sun's vice president of adoption marketing and technology evangelism.

Last month, Sun announced that it's making Java available as open-source code under the GNU General Public License version 2, the same license that governs the use and development of the Linux OS. Specifically, Sun is open-sourcing the Java Software Development Kit, Java HotSpot Virtual Machine and Java Programming Language Compiler. The move applies to the standard edition of Java used for building desktop software, the enterprise edition for assembling server software and the micro-edition for building embedded applications.

Until now, Sun has fought off calls to make Java open-source, fearing that would spawn incompatible versions of the technology and destroy its "write-once, run-anywhere" advantage. But that often forced developers into cumbersome dealings with Sun and made porting Java to new systems expensive and time-consuming.

Open-source Java will make it easier for solution providers to distribute the Java run-time environment with all versions of Linux--something many were reluctant to do under a commercial license, Soto says. Red Hat, for example, had to ship copies of the IBM and BEA Java Virtual Machines (JVMs) with Red Hat Linux, and the company had to have a support agreement with Sun--all of which lengthened the support cycle, says Paul Cormier, Red Hat's executive vice president of engineering. Open-source Java will allow vendors, such as Red Hat, and solution providers to offer customer support for complete open-source systems.

The move to open source also will speed up development, make it easier to troubleshoot bugs and foster innovation because developers can see Java's source code.

"You'll probably see more innovation on the JVM side," Cormier says.

While any improvements ISVs and solution providers make to the Java platform must be shared with the Java community under the open-source license, software they develop on top of the platform remains their intellectual property.

But not everyone's happy with Sun's strategy. IBM issued a statement expressing support for the move but said Sun should have contributed the Java technology to the Apache Software Foundation, which is developing its own open-source Java under the Harmony project. Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz, in announcing the Java open-source plans, begged to differ: "This is what we and the [Java] community thought was the right answer," he said.