OSGi is a big deal: the Java community is eager to embrace it (for the most part); with upcoming JSRs, it will soon be part of the Java language, and folks are excited about the modularity it will bring. One big Java player that is heavily invested is SpringSource, who last year released the OSGi-based SpringSource Application Platform. Thus, it should come as no surprise that SpringSource now has a foothold in the OSGi Alliance, with company VP of Engineering and Product Management Peter Cooper-Ellis recently being elected to the board. (The press release on the subject rather grandiosely calls Spring "de facto standard in enterprise Java," but let's pass over that from now.)

This comes in the wake of SpringSource CEO Rod Johnson taking his seat on the JCP executive committee, and it indicates that the company is planning on taking a leadership role in areas of Java that it considers important. This JavaWorld podcast interview with Johnson goes into some detail on the importance of OSGi to the company's plans.