Java goes GPL

[ad7venture]

This is really good news for Linux users.  Before, there was a gpl version of java and the proprietary one and paths seemed to not work properly a lot.  I'm betting this is going to get bundled in Ubuntu now.

[Erwin_Br]

Kind of surprising they're going GPL. Not that I didn't expect them to go open source, but I thought they'd release it under the somewhat more restricted CDDL-license, like they did with Solaris.

--Erwin

[ad7venture]

Yeah.  GPL is a very open license.  Too open even for me.  For instance, if you mix your code with GPL code in binary format it automatically becomes GPL code, and not just code either, anything that gets mixed becomes GPL.  You can use libraries, and keep your code seperate and you're all right, which must be what Sun was thinking about, I think.  I'm pretty sure that anyone that used it wouldn't be required to go GPL.

[Erwin_Br]

I just read today that Sun are considering to put Solaris under the GPL license as well.

--Erwin

[ad7venture]

They have some new guy at the top that seems to have a different attitude towards open source.  It's a different business model, but for something like Solaris or Java, where it was mostly service revenue, it's a pretty good fit.  Solaris is in trouble I think, because businesses tend to standardize on OS's and the competition from Microsoft is pretty much turning into Linux.  I think Novell already came to that conclusion, but they're having trouble making profits with Linux.