Why open source Java?

Is Sun hoping to boost Java's slowing momentum?

By Richard Hoffman, Computerworld, 05/22/06

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So why should I care? If you're a Java developer, this announcement is likely good news, since it should mean significantly more freedom to develop and distribute your work, and a faster-growing, more robust ecosystem for Java technology development. From the enterprise perspective, if Sun can avoid fragmentation (and that is a big "if"), open source Java holds the promise of a wider range of Java tools, products, and optimized virtual machines. But as always, the devil is in the details, and Sun has not yet addressed exactly how and when Java will reach open source nirvana.

There are a variety of licenses covered under the term "open source," and Sun also has the stick of the Java trademark to wield. So the bottom line is that there's no open source Java yet, but having made such a public announcement, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for Sun to go back on its word now. Any such move, or even the perception of significant delays in the move to open source, would surely alienate precisely those portions of the developer world that Sun desperately wants to court. Can Sun set Java free? We'll see.