Now IBM has escalated the call for Sun to relinquish its tight hold of Java, by allowing software supremo Steve Mills, Senior Vice President and Group Executive, and overall head of its Software Group to endorse the idea floated previously by Smith and Sutor.
Sun, Mills said in an interview last week, should allow others to share the task of managing Java. It would increase Java's footprint in the marketplace, he argued:
"Sun has spent a lot of money managing the process, administering the process, creating the test cases, running the test cases. The industry is more than able to bear the burden of managing the process and covering the cost. I think when you spread the cost and expenses], you're able to also more effectively spread the licensing as well, which could improve the marketplace adoption of Java."
Mills's thinking is clearly reflected too in JDJ's exclusive interview - which appears in next month's issue and is already available online - with the 5 general managers of IBM's software group, who all report to Mills.
In that interview, the head of IBM's whole WebSphere product line - General Manager, Application & Integration Middleware Division, IBM Software Group- John Swainson, says:
"We have been stating for years that we'd like Sun to make Java a true open standard, and we remain optimistic. IBM's long-standing support for open source is based on our conviction that openness creates new opportunities and spurs innovation. Open source also gives customers choice and helps them meet their IT needs more quickly and effectively. An open source Java platform would be good for the industry, good for customers, and good for Java."
About Java News Desk JDJ News Desk monitors the world of Java to present IT professionals with updates on technology advances, business trends, new products and standards in the Java and i-technology space.
Satya wrote: I don''t
know why everybody is
after Sun to losen its
grip on Java. After all
it is their product, and
they have every right to
control it. Will IBM do
the samethign with DB2,
or any of its proprietary
technologies, or any
other company do the same
thing? I DON''T SEE ANY
JUSTICE IN EXPECTING SUN
TO OPEN SOURCE JAVA. In
fact every other company
is more benefited from
Java than Sun itself.
Leave Sun on its own
thought to do whatever
way they want to steer
the future of Java. It
has excellent brains to
do so.
Mike Dever wrote: - More
IBM Primadonna''s.
- First we get SWT not
going thru the JCP
- Then we get IBM
Extensions to J2EE not
going thru the JCP
- Now, they want Java to
be fractured in an
anything goes process:
Pointers in Java! God
save us from the
Primadonna''s.
There''s a
reason for the JCP: Code
Review!
I don''t want
hare-brained ideas
implemented in Java
without a Community
Discussion. It''s tough
on the ego, of which
there are many at IBM,
but it''s Great for the
Language.
IBM, we don''t need you
to do what you did to
UNIX.
You should be
working on making Java
competitive with .NET,
thru the JCP,
not trying to get a
bigger piece of a much
smaller pie.
laura g wrote: Please
detail how Sun created
100% of the Java we know
today. Don't forget all
the runtimes, libraries,
etc. So is it really
their property in that
other people by now have
done the majority of the
work and then gave it to
Sun? Was the JCP just an
excuse to get together
and party while the Sun
engineers did all the
work? Finders keepers,
losers weepers? This type
of attitude is an insult
to the hundreds of
non-Sun people who did
contribute to the JCP.
dog wrote: I think IBM
should put its money
where its mouth is and
offer Sun a way out of
its financial troubles
(buy it or something)
rather than telling it
what to do...
Behrang Saeedzadeh wrote:
"As it can be seen, Sun
is not a friend of the
open source community
but, simply, it doesn't
like to open source Java"
I meant, Sun IS A FRIEND
OF... :p
Behrang Saeedzadeh wrote:
Davis,
"If the goal is a single
multiplatform language
that everyone can use..."
If it''s the goal, the
game is over and the
mission is successful
because everyone can use
the Java platform, both
SE and EE editions.
SQL, as you mentioned, is
a good example and it
clearly explains why Sun
doesn''t like to open
source Java: No two SQL
implementations are
compatible. Just compare
MySQL and Oracle and
you''ll see their syntax
are completely different.
And Java is not the only
product from Sun. Sun
produces a lot of open
source products: NetBeans
as an IDE, OpenOffice as
an office suite, Java
Desktop Linux as an OS,
and maybe other products
that I''m not aware of.
Sun has also helped the
Gnome by working on
usability problems.
As it can be seen, Sun is
not a friend of the open
source community but,
s...
Davis Foulger wrote: If
the goal is a single
multiplatform language
that everyone can use,
then administration of
that language has to move
away from the control of
anyone company and toward
the normal standards
models that are
associated with almost
all standard languages.
Sun is trying to dance a
delicate game of
maintaining standards
processes that look like
international standards
processes, getting
donations of code from
lots of players, and
still maintaining
proprietary ownership of
the language. I won''t
say that all of the
problems that Java has
encountered in this dance
are a result of this
delicate three step. No
amount of reasonable
behavior on the part of
other players would have
stopped Microsoft from
creating its D flat Java
clone when they couldn''t
subvert the Java process.
But many of the problems ...
Frans Thamura wrote: I
study the Java market for
my business here, and I
see, If Sun open source
Java, that is good for
all of us. But make Java
always "one" is the more
important. I want Sun
commitment to make the
Java SDK forever US$ 0.
Will you Sun?
Gerry wrote: Davis - I
don''t think Sun treats
Java like a proprietary
language. It created the
Java language and
platform and the
processes they''ve
instituted keeps it open
and evolving. Anyone can
get the source code. And
believe it or not, the
JVM actually has more
OTHER languages that run
it that Microsoft has on
.NET!
Gaurav - Sun''s JCP has
kept them from having a
monopoly on the language.
They have about as loose
a grip as you can have on
it. Even if Sun gives it
all away, they will still
invest time & money in
supporting it. BTW, did
you ever notice that they
bought NetBeans then gave
it away? They bought
StarOffice and did the
same (OpenOffice). They
make money off the
value-added versions.
Java is the freebie that
they write lots of
software with. They''re
not making money off of
Java directly, but ...
Sunil wrote: Sun has been
able to keep "one" java.
If making open source
ever led to fragmentation
of java platform then the
entire java community
will suffer.
Ed Larmore wrote: Java is
Sun''s property plain and
simple. If IBM wishes
Java to become open
source, then I suggest
they buy it from Sun at a
mutually agreeable price.
Assuming Sun accepts,
IBM can make it open
source. It is easy to
ask others to give for
free what is not theirs.
Spanky wrote: Heinrich,
You develop a widgit. I
suggest you make it a
different color. Now I
can demand you give me
your widget?
Sun is NOT a steward, but
the owner.
The contributions of the
JCP are mutually
beneficial, so the
particpants have already
gained throught the
process.
Would you suggest Oracle
opensource its database?
Do you believe they''d
give your suggestion any
serious thought? Would
BEA? IBM?
No, I think you are
confused as to the nature
of property, and the
difference between
community process and
ownership.
heinrich wrote: You are
confusing products with
what is supposedly an
industry-developed
technology. Sun is the
steward of the JCP. They
did not create all of
Java as it exists today,
the industry did,
including companies like
BEA and Oracle. No one is
asking them to open
source Solaris. If Java
is to be everywhere and
supported by almost
everyone, then it should
be open sourced.
Spanky wrote: For those
of us old enough to
remember the old "Our
Gang" series, this
reminds me of the
neighborhood bully,
Butch, walking up to the
smaller kids and
demanding their
slingshot.
"But we made it
ourselves!", They cry!
"That don''t mean
nothing! You can''t
shoot good anyway! Hand
it over!"
It seems that Butch has
grown up and now works
for IBM.
Behrang Saeedzadeh wrote:
Open sourceness is great
but it's not very easy
for Sun to decide to open
source Java or not. Sun
may lose money more than
that way than it's
currently losing.
Should we enforce IBM to
open source DB2,
WebSphere, Domino, and
Notes? Does IBM like to
do it? I guess not.
So why are we heavily
insisting on Sun to open
source Java?
Making Java open source
is great but if I were
McNealy I only would do
it for cash rewards from,
say, IBM, BEA, and some
others. Something around
$2 or $3 billion ;)
Ahhhh. BTW - Is IBM''s
implementation of
Smalltalk open source?
Frans Thamura wrote: I
see Websphere Micro
Edition is US$ 5.99, why?
what is the hell IBM
doing with this? Kill
Sun? but you must make it
free also. Sun did for
his JSDK for free, but
your Micro Edition?
What is the difference
for customer?
I am glad if Java can be
open source, and every
company around the world
can put it in his mobile
devices, and make the
mobile phone is cheaper,
because we dont have to
buy the runtime which
IBM do for his Websphere
Micro Edition
Gaurav Tuli wrote: Java
as a programming language
should not be a soul
monopoly of a company
though it has been
involved in bringing it
to light and the language
driving internet
today.The language itself
is platform independent
so sun should also
ideally loosen it''s grip
and bring other companies
into picture.This will
also reduce sun''s
maintenance and
development costs and
make the company more
involved in thinking
about future and java and
work on projects which
will help leverage java
to be a better lanaguage
for projects.
Davis Foulger wrote:
Industry standards really
only work when Industry
works together.
Proprietary standards for
languages generally doom
those languages. IBM
learned that the hard way
with PL/1, RPG, and other
fine languages that were
never widely adopted.
The longer Sun treats
Java as a proprietary
language, the more likely
it is that something else
will replace it.
IBM announced two new
advances in the insurance
industry - a solution for
improving operational
efficiency and a
framework for process
acceleration - that are
designed to help
insurance providers lower
costs and increase
customer satisfaction by
handling core processes,
such as claims
ParAccel announced it has
entered into an original
equipment manufacturer
(OEM) agreement with IBM.
Under the terms of the
agreement, ParAccel will
embed IBM InfoSphere
Change Data Capture
within the ParAccel
Analytic Database,
providing ParAccel
customers with seamless
and real-time u
Mike Neil is general
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Mike is focused on the
delivery of the Windows
virtualization
technology, including
Windows Server 2008
Hyper-V, Microsoft
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Virtual PC 2007. Mike
also directs the tec
Micro Focus announced the
availability of SOA
Express 8.0. The new
version adds support for
direct deployment into
IBM's Customer
Information Control
System (CICS), enabling
users to accelerate the
deployment of Web
services by reusing their
existing CICS TS
mainframe infrastructure
in
From Application
Virtualization to Xen, a
round-up of the
virtualization themes &
topics being discussed in
NYC June 23-24, 2008 by
the world-class speaker
faculty at the 3rd
International
Virtualization Conference
& Expo being held by
SYS-CON Events in The
Roosevelt Hotel, in
midtown
Red Hat is a trusted
open source provider.
Red Hat offers enterprise
customers a long-term
plan for building
infrastructures on the
quality and innovation of
open source. Combining
open source operating
system platform, Red Hat
Enterprise Linux,
together with
applications, management
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Mike Neil is general
manager for
virtualization strategy
in the Windows Server
Division at Microsoft.
Mike is focused on the
delivery of the Windows
virtualization
technology, including
Windows Server 2008
Hyper-V, Microsoft
Hyper-V Server and
Virtual PC 2007. Mike
also directs the tec
From Application
Virtualization to Xen, a
round-up of the
virtualization themes &
topics being discussed in
NYC June 23-24, 2008 by
the world-class speaker
faculty at the 3rd
International
Virtualization Conference
& Expo being held by
SYS-CON Events in The
Roosevelt Hotel, in
midtown 
Red Hat is a trusted
open source provider.
Red Hat offers enterprise
customers a long-term
plan for building
infrastructures on the
quality and innovation of
open source. Combining
open source operating
system platform, Red Hat
Enterprise Linux,
together with
applications, management
