Inching towards `open' Java?
IN WHAT looks like a software industry version of the children's game of `I dare you!', IBM has invited Sun Microsystems to join hands in creating a `open' version of its Java code, but as of now, Sun is not rising - to the challenge.
`Big Blue' made the proposal recently to Sun to set Java free as an open source brew, like Linux. The technical media has been speculating that the two software giants may get together later this month, to see how this can be done. But it appears that Sun may end up saying to IBM: `Thanks - but no thanks!".
Jonathan Schwartz, Sun's Vice President (Software) has said, the company is afraid, open sourcing may lead to what it calls `forking' — the emergence of multiple distributions of the same software. It does not want to repeat the mistakes of Linux, which saw the emergence of incompatible versions of the same source code.
And to keep the whole open versus proprietary issue boiling, Microsoft Engineer Jim Gray, speaking on a panel at the Software Development Conference and Expo West 2004 show in Santa Clara, California, warned software companies that there would be no profits for them if everything was given away free: "The thing I'm puzzled by is how there will be a software industry if there's open-source", he said.
Anand Parthasarathy
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