Debian starts redistributing newly-relicensed Sun Java

Created by Stuart Yeates (University of Oxford) on May 17, 2006

The Debian project has just started redistributing Sun's Java implementation after the recent relicensing. As with all Debian software, the software has been repackaged into a standard format for ease of install, upgrade, removal and testing. Previously Debian merely distributed a placeholder and users had to install Java from the Sun website.

Debian remains committed to supporting free runtimes and development environments for Java, such as Kaffe and GCJ, and we look forward to working with Sun as they explore their options for making Java more free, and extending their involvement in the free software community for other portions of Java and other projects.

"This new license shows that Sun and the Java technology world care about GNU/Linux and open source platforms and are willing to put aside philosophical differences and get down to business," said Mark Shuttleworth, founder and sponsor of the Ubuntu GNU/Linux distribution, the most-downloaded GNU/Linux in the world for the last eight months. "This eliminates one of the biggest roadblocks to wider use of the Java platform on free and open source operating system platforms and makes Java technology a more attractive foundation on which to build new projects and innovations."

"We are really pleased to see Sun's increasing involvement in the free software community, from the opening of the Solaris Operating System source and now the re-licensing of Java technology to be compatible with GNU/Linux distributions, and are looking forward to building stronger ties with the Sun community in the future", said Anthony Towns, Debian Project Leader.

The timing of this move is very interesting, since debian have just announced they're moving to GCC 4.1 primarily for the better Java support and it is the open source gcj/gij implementation of Java within GCC that appears to be forcing Sun to relicense their implementation. The improving support for Java within GCC threatens to undercut Sun's position as the supplier of the dominant Java implementation. Faced with a choice between having full control over the a minority implementation of Java or partial control over the dominant one, they ceded partial control by releasing it under an open source-friendly licence.

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		Debian starts redistributing newly-relicensed Sun Java Created by Stuart Yeates (University of Oxford) on May 17, 2006 The Debian project has just started redistributing Sun's Java implementation after the recent relicensing. As with all Debian software, the software has been repackaged into a standard format for ease of install, upgrade, removal and testing. Previously Debian merely distributed a placeholder and users had to install Java from the Sun website. Debian remains committed to supporting free runtimes and development environments for Java, such as Kaffe and GCJ, and we look forward to working with Sun as they explore their options for making Java more free, and extending their involvement in the free software community for other portions of Java and other projects. "This new license shows that Sun and the Java technology world care about GNU/Linux and open source platforms and are willing to put aside philosophical differences and get down to business," said Mark Shuttleworth, founder and sponsor of the Ubuntu GNU/Linux distribution, the most-downloaded GNU/Linux in the world for the last eight months. "This eliminates one of the biggest roadblocks to wider use of the Java platform on free and open source operating system platforms and makes Java technology a more attractive foundation on which to build new projects and innovations." "We are really pleased to see Sun's increasing involvement in the free software community, from the opening of the Solaris Operating System source and now the re-licensing of Java technology to be compatible with GNU/Linux distributions, and are looking forward to building stronger ties with the Sun community in the future", said Anthony Towns, Debian Project Leader. The timing of this move is very interesting, since debian have just announced they're moving to GCC 4.1 primarily for the better Java support and it is the open source gcj/gij implementation of Java within GCC that appears to be forcing Sun to relicense their implementation. The improving support for Java within GCC threatens to undercut Sun's position as the supplier of the dominant Java implementation. Faced with a choice between having full control over the a minority implementation of Java or partial control over the dominant one, they ceded partial control by releasing it under an open source-friendly licence. Copyright \| Debian \| Intellectual Property \| intellectual property rights \| Open Source Stuart's blog Login or register to post comments 4065 reads
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