internetnews.com: Dawn of the New Eclipse

“The reorganization of Eclipse as a non-profit foundation will
be the centerpiece of an event next week, organizers said Friday.
The goal is to demonstrate the software tools created using the
open-source Eclipse platform.

“But the consortium’s retrenching has left a familiar dissident
unsatisfied. Sun Microsystems sent an open letter this week to
Eclipse expressing concern about the fragmentation of the
development community concerning Java tools.

“Sun, which has created its own open-source tools platform
called NetBeans, has long flirted with joining Eclipse. But the
Java creator balked because of IBM’s sphere of influence over the
group. IBM spawned the Eclipse platform in 2001 and ceded it to the
community with $40 million in investment cash.

“With the reorganization, IBM would supposedly fade into the
background, leaving a few key members in the group. Eclipse would
become an independent foundation and ideally, those who feared
IBM’s sway might feel more comfortable.

“But Sun fears for its own open-source platform, NetBeans, which
it feels would be affected by joining Eclipse…”

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