IBM borrowing from Harmony for its JVM
Submitted by Josh Fruhlinger on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 21:46.
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Hey, remember that whole dispute between The Apache Software Foundation and Sun over the Test Compatibility Kits for Apache Harmony, the ASF's Java SE implementation? You might recall back when everyone was sure that IBM would be buying Sun, folks seemed convinced that this boded well for a resolution of the dispute on Apache's terms. Thus, it's very interesting to me that Craig Hayman, VP at IBM's WebSphere division, noted casually at JavaOne that his company is using Harmony libraries for its own JVM.
Of course, Harmony already figures prominently as the basis for Google's non-Java-standard Android environment, but what's interesting to me about this is that I'm assuming IBM's JVM has been walked through the certification process. In a way, then, this provides a sort of back door to the certification of at least some of Harmony's code.
But more interesting than that is the fact that IBM is cheerfully borrowing non-Sun-certified code for its Java implementation. Sun earned a lot of community goodwill by using its control of the Java trademark to stave off Microsoft's embrace-and-extend onslaught at the turn of the century. But the Apache controversy may mean that that control is seen in a less flattering light. And because Java is for the most part now open source, it can be simply bypassed, so long as you don't want to call what you've produced Java. The fact that IBM feels fully confident about using non-Sun-certified code in its JVM may indicate that Sun's certification is not the prerequisite for respect and compatibility that it once was. If smart folks can look at the code and declare it to be workable Java, then in some ways Sun's opinion doesn't matter -- and if the community thinks that Sun's approval is based on non-technical merits, then it begins to lose its social currency.
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Apache's governance is
Apache's governance is heavily influenced by IBM. IBM has donated programmers and money to various Apache Java projects, which I'm sure Apache is grateful for.
Apache Harmony was IBM's attempt to gain control of Java from Sun in the same vein as Eclipse was. Eclipse was originally an inferior IDE which was designed to be extensible with proprietary plugins. However, the rich functionality of Netbeans forced IBM to actually ass usable components such as the free web development plugins.
Apache Harmony was supposed to be the same inferior reference Java implementation for which IBM could offer an upgrade and at the same time wrest control of Java away from Sun. The problem is that Sun not only open sourced it, but they made it GPL, effectively starving Apache of Sun Java code. It's in this context that Sun refused to give Harmony the TCK.
Seeing as IBM has managed to pretty much ruin most software it has acquired (Lotus Notes, Rational, etc) and doesn't make any of their in-house software particularly user-friendly (ex DB2 GUI tools, Websphere), I really don't want to see IBM control Java. Thankfully, they lost their chance when they rolled back their takeover plans and gave Oracle their opportunity.
IBM is one of the most disingenuous and hypocritical companies when it comes to open source, having the gall to demand that Sun open source Java while at the same time keeping their crown jewels (Lotus Notes, DB2, Websphere) closed.
social currency?
I agreed with everything up until the last line.
non SUN JVMS approved or not have no social currency.
Im glad SUN tried to standardize the process of certifying a JVM but it was only to everyones ultimate detriment.
IBMs JVM oh god, JRockit, OMFG. Please, lets just go to open JDK and forget these tools.
IBM is one of the most
IBM is one of the most disingenuous and hypocritical companies when it comes to open source, having the gall to demand that Sun open source Java while at the same time keeping their crown jewels (Lotus Notes, DB2, Websphere) closed.
How is IBM borrowing code
How is IBM borrowing code from a project when they are the primary developers of it?
Apache Software Foundation vs Sun
Do you mean the Apache Software Foundation sent the following letter to Sun Microsystems regarding our inability to acquire an acceptable license for the Java SE 5 technology compatibility kit, a test kit needed by the Apache Harmony project to demonstrate compatibility with the Java SE 5 specification, as required by the Sun specification license for Java SE 5?
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LAN messenger developer.
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