Java and Linux – an Open Marriage in Search of Success

“That other pillar of open source, and creator of the GNU
Project Richard Stallman, meanwhile, became one of Java’s loudest
opponents – sternly advising people not to install the
closed-source evil that was Java, and giving Java as a dire example
of corporate lock-in.

“Two years later Sun silenced the the baying crowd with OpenJDK
– an open-source project based on Sun’s closed-JDK codebase.

“Sun also released Java Standard Edition (Java SE) for the
desktop, Java Mobile Edition (Java ME) for mobile devices and
Glassfish – Sun’s implementation of Java Enterprise Edition (Java
EE) – under GNU General Public License v2 (GPLv2). Sun said GPLv2
would achieve the objectives of “driving more volume and adoption
for Java and maintaining the ‘write once run anywhere
compatibility’ promise.”

“Sun has spent much of the intervening period talking about how
OpenJDK would make it easier to distribute Java with Linux, putting
Java into new markets and on platforms, and into the hands of new
developers. Stallman, himself, was sufficiently impressed by the
move.

Complete Story