(Author Stig Hackvän takes a close look at Sun
Microsystems’s recently announced changes to the Java software
license.)
Sun calls the the new Java license its Sun Community Source
License (SCSL). Precise terms of the new Java license will not be
made available until January, 1999.
SCSL is customized for each different product and Sun already
uses SCSL to license its Jini technology.
“The Java platform is definitely not free software, but it is
more open than it was before. The cost of gaining access to the
platform’s source code has been greatly reduced and the level of
freedom granted to members of the community of SCSL licensees has
been greatly increased.”