With Cloud Expo 2012 New York (10th Cloud Expo) now just three weeks away, what better time to introduce you in greater detail to the distinguished individuals in our incredible Speaker Faculty for the technical and strategy sessions at the conference...| By David Mohring | Article Rating: |
|
| June 6, 2004 12:00 AM EDT | Reads: |
33,199 |
It's sound business for Sun to (a) Open source license the Java J2SE,J2EE and J2ME framework libraries; and (b) Release a fork of the Solaris Kernel under the GPL license.
It would benefit the entire Java based industry - including the free software, open source, and proprietary based vendors - to open license the core J2ME, J2SE, J2EE libraries and Java to bytecode compilers.
Java's primary strength, the ability to write code which is constantly portable across many vendors platforms, would be greatly enhanced if all of the vendors were using the same core libraries.
To insure that the standard base core would not become polluted with incompatible forks, the source could be licensed with a clause requiring any incompatible changes or any additional classes or methods to be moved to and occupy only the vendor's namespace. Another clause would require that the vendor version of the Java-to-bytecode compiler and any GUI IDE defaults to generating portable bytecode, without embedding any vendor-specific references.
The OSF definition of an open source license clause five explicitly states:
"The license may require derived works to carry a different name or version number from the original software."
Developers and vendors would only be required to shift changes to the vendors'/developers' namespace if the changes were incompatible with the JCP JSR open standards. This would not prevent the development/distribution of additional optimizations, ports, or bug fixes. Since adoption of standards has for a long time been an open source tradition, it would not be much of an imposition on the open source community.
Vendors don't have to use all the same "core" libraries - just provide the same standard interface. The open source Java core can been seen as a starting common base. Each vendor would be free to "short circuit" their implementation as long as the standard API behaviour remained the same. Vendors would still be free to compete on their JVM performance along with how well it performs interfacing databases, integrated development tools, etc.
Sun could require contributors to the Java Open Core to let Sun or the JCP dual-license the result as Sun does with OpenOffice.org and StarOffice. If a vendor does not wish to disclose its modifcations then the vendor could pay for a closed source license scheme. The payment could then be split up amongst Sun, the JCP, and the contributors.
Ask IBM and HP what their customers are demanding and you will find out more often than not that it's vendor-neutral/independent solutions. Customers don't want lock-in slavery anymore. That is why Linux is such a success and why there is more demand for Java skills than any other programming language.
It should not be necessary to open source license Sun's JVMs. In the long run it could greatly benefit Sun to develop the JVM under a dual license as it is doing with OpenOffice.org and selling StarOffice.
Releasing a fork of the Solaris Unix Kernel makes even more sense when you consider Sun's move towards commodity based hardware, like AMD's opteron, and enterprise desktop systems. Sun is going to need drivers to interoperate with x86 hardware and common peripherals. In comparison to Linux, the range and quality of hardware drivers available to Solaris is pitiful.
If Sun can manage to get out from under the SCO Group's claims over the old AT&T code base, by dealing direct with Novell who still appear to hold the rights and copyrights, then Sun would be free to release a fork of the Solaris kernel under the GPL license.
Sun would be then free to take any source code from the Linux kernel and incorporate it into the GPL'ed Solaris kernel fork. Sun would then free to deploy that kernel in desktop and clustered systems markets, where Linux currently does have a lead over Sun.
Published June 6, 2004 Reads 33,199
Copyright © 2004 SYS-CON Media, Inc. — All Rights Reserved.
Syndicated stories and blog feeds, all rights reserved by the author.
More Stories By David Mohring
David Mohring is a New Zealand-based Linux applications developer.
![]() |
Pawan 06/10/04 01:42:06 AM EDT | |||
This article needs to do more than simply be unreasonably obsessive with open sourcing Java. The article doesnt have anything that can prove that either Sun or dev. community will benefit from opening up Java. Besides, Java classes are all open source, and I dont think anybody would like M$ or some org to change the source for java.exe and impose it upon the users. |
||||
![]() |
Layton 06/08/04 05:32:40 PM EDT | |||
I don't see that it makes any difference whether Sun open Sources Java or Solaris. As far as Java is concerned, there is currently a re-implementation of it happening that should satisfy the "anti-proprietary" crowd. And I don't see why we need Solaris. We have Linux, 3 BSD's, Dos, and someone working on an NT clone. If Sun wants to open source their stuff, then fine. But if not, they have to live with what they fix, and I don't see that it is anyone elses place to tell them what that should be. If Sun's customers aren't secure with what Sun is doing, then they should find alternatives for themselvs that they are happy with. Again, they need to live with their own choices. Basically, I believe that choice is good. If we loose the option of a closed source solution we have just as much lost a choice as if we had lost an open source option. Both have advantages. The only thing I would like to see Sun do is to decide what they want to do, and then do it. But then, I'm not on their board, I don't own Sun stock, and I'm not a Sun customer. However if they made a sparc based laptop that ran a recent linux, I might re-consider. Maybe. |
||||
![]() |
FUD Stomper 06/08/04 01:02:40 PM EDT | |||
The problems with "getting components to work with Linux" are NOT due to kernel differences. ANY end user who can plunk out "diff" and "/usr/src/linux/scripts/patch-kernel" can be assured of running the latest-greatest, the earliest, or anything they desire... What does that have to do with "open sourcing Java"? Not much, other than to say that currently it is even easier to switch from one JRE to another... I would venture to guess that the VAST majority of NOISE one hears about "open sourcing Java" is simply an effort on the part of vendors of closed Operating Systems to muddy the waters in the futile hope of clinging to their shrinking base... I am growing tired of Sys-Con fueling this. Spend more time on articles that help DEVELOPERS get stuff done! |
||||
![]() |
SAJ951 06/08/04 10:20:38 AM EDT | |||
Seems to me that this publication and IBM are about the only ones crying for Sun to open source java. IBM has an implementation of Java - why don''t they just open source all of that and say to the open source community "here you go, build on this"? We''ve already seen what happens with open sourcing platforms with Linux - some benefits but also lots of problems. JDJ - we''ve heard your cries ad nauseum - enough already - isn''t it time to get back to your core missiong - ie. providing information useful to the Java Developer? |
||||
![]() |
Trey Spiva 06/08/04 09:20:53 AM EDT | |||
How will it help the Java community to have Java fracture. Because of the lack of standards caused by the fracturing of Java, it will become impossible for 3rd party tool venders to support the Java language. Example: Linux is a GREAT operating system. However, few people us it (except for the die hard MS haters). Why? Becausae it is too hard for the common user to get components to work on Linux. Why? Because each Linux kernal is different and there are no standards that 3rd party venders can conform to. So, instead we have each kernal vender fighting each other instead of a organized attack to defeat other operating systems like MS windows. This approach is doomed to fail. |
||||
![]() |
Malcolm 06/08/04 07:47:28 AM EDT | |||
Get a life guys!!! Stop banging on about making java open source and go write some java code. JDJ should commission some articles that help the community not this endless tirade of tripe about Open Source. I don''t even need to mention that the source is available etc... etc... yawn... yawn... |
||||
![]() |
Mike 06/08/04 06:51:51 AM EDT | |||
The source code is available (as nonemouse said) and vendors besides Sun offer JVMs. I see no advantage in having Java open sourced. As a Java developer, if I want additional capabilities not found in the standard distribution from Sun, I go out to the web and get them. No lock-in there. |
||||
![]() |
nonemouse 06/08/04 05:26:15 AM EDT | |||
Vendors can already add whatever they want in their own namespace. So what are you saying? Why does the linux crowd have such trouble understanding that the java |
||||
![]() |
bored 06/08/04 04:30:51 AM EDT | |||
"Customers don''t want lock-in slavery anymore," yeah! |
||||
With Cloud Expo 2012 New York (10th Cloud Expo) now just three weeks away, what better time to introduce you in greater detail to the distinguished individuals in our incredible Speaker Faculty for the technical and strategy sessions at the conference...May. 21, 2012 10:45 AM EDT Reads: 1,496 |
By Liz McMillan Whether your company is large or small, you are probably exploring Big Data solutions and using cloud services and will need to integrate with other enterprise workloads.
In his session at the 10th International Cloud Expo, Gwyn Clay, CEO of Stonebranch, will share detailed information about how their customers are already integrating Workload Automation with tools like Hadoop, and running workloads completely in the cloud using a modern enterprise-wide workload automation solution that is 100...May. 21, 2012 10:24 AM EDT Reads: 133 |
By Jeremy Geelan What do the CTOs of the CIA and the U.S. Dept. of Justice and the CIO of the National Reconnaissance Office have in common with the CEOs of Eucalyptus, GoGrid, ActiveState, Appcara, OpSource and Nortonworks, the CTOs of Rackspace, SoftLayer, SOA Software and AppZero, the Founder & General Manager of Dell Boomi, the VP of Big Data & Streams at IBM and the Chief Strategy Officer at Pacific Controls? Answer: all are shortly to present breakout sessions as members of the distinguished Speaker Facul...May. 21, 2012 10:00 AM EDT Reads: 2,973 |
By Marilyn Moux As a Platinum Plus Sponsor of Cloud Expo New York, Rackspace Hosting is offering special passes to SYS-CON's 10th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on June 11–14, 2012, at the Javits Center in New York City, New York.
Rackspace Hosting is the service leader in cloud computing, and a founder of OpenStack, an open source cloud operating system. The San Antonio-based company provides Fanatical Support® to its customers and partners, across a portfolio of IT services, including Manage...May. 21, 2012 09:49 AM EDT Reads: 273 |
By Elizabeth White The move to cloud-based applications has undeniably delivered tremendous benefits. However, the associated distribution creates various challenges from the quality perspective:
End-to-end tests need to pass through multiple dependent systems, which are commonly unavailable, evolving, or difficult-to-access for testing.
Accessing such systems often involves transaction and bandwidth fees.
Teams need to test and tune the system under test against a realistic and broad range of performance and ...May. 21, 2012 09:45 AM EDT Reads: 1,275 |
By Pat Romanski In this CTO Power Panel at the 10th International Cloud Expo, moderated by Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan, industry-leading CTOs & VPs of Technology will discuss such topics as:
Which do you think is the most important cloud computing standard still to tackle?
Who should and shouldn’t be using a PaaS product today, and why?
Can a public cloud ever be truly secure?
How important is open source to cloud computing and Big Data?
"Mission-critical apps are now safe in the cloud." Tr...May. 21, 2012 09:15 AM EDT Reads: 1,255 |
By Liz McMillan For many of the same reasons that Software-as-a-Service is catching on with enterprise buyers, delivering web services on top of Infrastructure-as-a-Service architectures is appealing to the SaaS developers. Operational agility, lower CapEx, and a broad array of tools and services are on tap that make both public and private IaaS clouds a great platform to build on. But how do you do this securely, especially in the public cloud where you have no access to the network or hypervisor your servers ...May. 21, 2012 09:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,475 |
By Liz McMillan “Big Data eliminates the data silos that formerly existed, improving the depth and quality of analysis that can take place,” observed Scott Kinka, Chief Technology Officer at Evolve IP, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. “Without these barriers, Kinka continued, “we gain access to information that was never before available. We can see where there are underserved markets, opportunities, problems that need to be addressed.”
Agree or disagree? – "While the IT sa...May. 21, 2012 09:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,212 |
By Jeremy Geelan With Cloud Expo 2012 New York (10th Cloud Expo) now just three weeks away, what better time to introduce you in greater detail to the distinguished individuals in our incredible Speaker Faculty for the technical and strategy sessions at the conference...May. 21, 2012 08:45 AM EDT Reads: 2,629 |
By Liz McMillan In this CEO Power Panel at the 10th International Cloud Expo, moderated by Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan, leading executives in the Cloud Computing and Big Data space will be discussing such topics as:
Is it just wishful thinking to depict the Cloud as more than just a technology solution? If not, then what concrete examples best demonstrate cloud computing as an engine of business value?
Big Data has existed since the early days of computing; why, then, do you think there is such...May. 21, 2012 08:30 AM EDT Reads: 1,354 |
- Cloud Expo New York: Why PostgreSQL is the Database for the Cloud
- Cloud Expo New York Speaker Profile: Dave Asprey – Trend Micro
- Cloud Expo New York Speaker Profile: Jill T. Singer – NRO
- The Business Value of Cloud Computing
- Cloud Expo New York Speaker Profile: Greg O'Connor – AppZero
- Cloud Expo New York Speaker Profile: Dave Linthicum – Blue Mountain Labs
- Cloud Expo New York Speaker Profile: Mårten Mickos – Eucalyptus Systems
- iPad3 vs Windows 8 - and the Winner Is...Cloud
- Cloud Expo New York Speaker Profile: George Gerchow – VMware
- Cloud Expo New York Speaker Profile: Bernard Golden – HyperStratus
- Cloud Expo New York Speaker Profile: James Weir – UShareSoft
- Cloud Expo New York: The Java EE 7 Platform - Developing for the Cloud
- Cloud Expo New York: Why PostgreSQL is the Database for the Cloud
- Cloud Expo New York Speaker Profile: Dave Asprey – Trend Micro
- Cloud Expo New York Speaker Profile: Jill T. Singer – NRO
- The Business Value of Cloud Computing
- Cloud Expo New York Speaker Profile: Greg O'Connor – AppZero
- Cloud Expo New York Speaker Profile: Dave Linthicum – Blue Mountain Labs
- Cloud Expo New York Speaker Profile: Mårten Mickos – Eucalyptus Systems
- iPad3 vs Windows 8 - and the Winner Is...Cloud
- Cloud Expo New York Speaker Profile: George Gerchow – VMware
- Cloud Expo New York Speaker Profile: Bernard Golden – HyperStratus
- Cloud Expo New York Speaker Profile: James Weir – UShareSoft
- Red Hat Executive Appointed to Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) Support Services Advisory Board
- What is Cloud Computing?
- The Top 150 Players in Cloud Computing
- Six Benefits of Cloud Computing
- Virtualization Conference Keynote Webcast Live on SYS-CON.TV
- What's the Difference Between Cloud Computing and SaaS?
- Twenty-One Experts Define Cloud Computing
- GDS International: Global Warming Scam?
- The Top 250 Players in the Cloud Computing Ecosystem
- The Future of Cloud Computing
- A Brief History of Cloud Computing: Is the Cloud There Yet?
- Cloud Expo Europe 2009 in Prague: Themes & Topics
- SOA 2 Point Oh No!









Whether your company is large or small, you are probably exploring Big Data solutions and using cloud services and will need to integrate with other enterprise workloads.
In his session at the 10th International Cloud Expo, Gwyn Clay, CEO of Stonebranch, will share detailed information about how their customers are already integrating Workload Automation with tools like Hadoop, and running workloads completely in the cloud using a modern enterprise-wide workload automation solution that is 100...
What do the CTOs of the CIA and the U.S. Dept. of Justice and the CIO of the National Reconnaissance Office have in common with the CEOs of Eucalyptus, GoGrid, ActiveState, Appcara, OpSource and Nortonworks, the CTOs of Rackspace, SoftLayer, SOA Software and AppZero, the Founder & General Manager of Dell Boomi, the VP of Big Data & Streams at IBM and the Chief Strategy Officer at Pacific Controls? Answer: all are shortly to present breakout sessions as members of the distinguished Speaker Facul...
As a Platinum Plus Sponsor of Cloud Expo New York, Rackspace Hosting is offering special passes to SYS-CON's 10th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on June 11–14, 2012, at the Javits Center in New York City, New York.
Rackspace Hosting is the service leader in cloud computing, and a founder of OpenStack, an open source cloud operating system. The San Antonio-based company provides Fanatical Support® to its customers and partners, across a portfolio of IT services, including Manage...
The move to cloud-based applications has undeniably delivered tremendous benefits. However, the associated distribution creates various challenges from the quality perspective:
End-to-end tests need to pass through multiple dependent systems, which are commonly unavailable, evolving, or difficult-to-access for testing.
Accessing such systems often involves transaction and bandwidth fees.
Teams need to test and tune the system under test against a realistic and broad range of performance and ...
In this CTO Power Panel at the 10th International Cloud Expo, moderated by Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan, industry-leading CTOs & VPs of Technology will discuss such topics as:
Which do you think is the most important cloud computing standard still to tackle?
Who should and shouldn’t be using a PaaS product today, and why?
Can a public cloud ever be truly secure?
How important is open source to cloud computing and Big Data?
"Mission-critical apps are now safe in the cloud." Tr...
For many of the same reasons that Software-as-a-Service is catching on with enterprise buyers, delivering web services on top of Infrastructure-as-a-Service architectures is appealing to the SaaS developers. Operational agility, lower CapEx, and a broad array of tools and services are on tap that make both public and private IaaS clouds a great platform to build on. But how do you do this securely, especially in the public cloud where you have no access to the network or hypervisor your servers ...
“Big Data eliminates the data silos that formerly existed, improving the depth and quality of analysis that can take place,” observed Scott Kinka, Chief Technology Officer at Evolve IP, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. “Without these barriers, Kinka continued, “we gain access to information that was never before available. We can see where there are underserved markets, opportunities, problems that need to be addressed.”
Agree or disagree? – "While the IT sa...
With Cloud Expo 2012 New York (10th Cloud Expo) now just three weeks away, what better time to introduce you in greater detail to the distinguished individuals in our incredible Speaker Faculty for the technical and strategy sessions at the conference...
In this CEO Power Panel at the 10th International Cloud Expo, moderated by Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan, leading executives in the Cloud Computing and Big Data space will be discussing such topics as:
Is it just wishful thinking to depict the Cloud as more than just a technology solution? If not, then what concrete examples best demonstrate cloud computing as an engine of business value?
Big Data has existed since the early days of computing; why, then, do you think there is such...
I have been having a great debate with one of my colleagues about the changing role of the IT operations (aka “I&O”) function in the context of PaaS. Nobody debates that I&O is responsible and accountable for infrastructure operations.
Application developers (with or without the blessing of Enterpr...
The following are a collection of ongoing industry trends and perspectives polls pertaining to server, storage, IO, networking, cloud, virtualization, data protection (backup, archive, BC and DR) among other related themes and topics.
In addition to those listed below, check out the comments sectio...
Rapid deployment capability is table stakes when we are talking about a PaaS solution. Every vendor touts it, and to be frank, every user simply expects it to be there. While I think it is interesting to talk about rapid deployment and perhaps compare speed of one solution to that of another, I thin...
Are large storage arrays dead at the hands of SSD? Short answer NO not yet.
There is still a place for traditional storage arrays or appliances particular those with extensive features, functionality and reliability availability serviceability (RAS). In other words, there is still a place for large...
In our previous articles, Introduction to SQL Server 2012 and Windows Azure Overview, we made references to Microsoft’s SQL Azure service. In this article we will take a closer look at its main features in more detail.
SQL Azure is a relational database solution with the capability to support both ...
It’s really easy to quantify some of the costs associated with a security breach. Number of customers impacted times the cost of a first class stamp plus the cost of a sheet of paper plus the cost of ink divided by … you get the picture. Some of the costs are easier than others to calculate. Some of...
It’s been an interesting day of contrasts in the world of storage, one that shows storage is a diverse and wide ranging segment of IT.
Tape has been part of the discussion on the twitterverse and despite everyone’s best attempts, is not dead yet. Tape and backup may not be seen as cool - but data...
As part of our cloud strategy, we’ve recently released a VMware version of our cloud security offering. It allows cloud providers using VMware, as well as the cloud users themselves, to create an encrypted environment within minutes, while eliminating the complexity around encryption key management ...
Okay – this is easy… or is it?
Lots of people continue to perpetuate the idea that the AWS APIs are a de facto standard, so we should just all move on about it. At the same time, everybody seems to acknowledge the fact that Amazon has never ever indicated that they want to be a true standard. Are...
As I mentioned in my last blog post, the promise of cost reduction is compelling many enterprises to move their workloads into the Cloud but many IT leaders are reluctant to do so, for fear of compromising the security and availability of their services. These concerns are well-founded but the benef...









