You no doubt already know that Sun released parts of Java under the General Public License, with some parts released under the GPL with (what Sun is calling) the “Classpath exception.” The hotspot VM and the javac compiler are the big parts of J2SE that were released today.
As a GNU Classpath hacker, I’m of two minds of this development: first, and foremost, this is probably the best way that Sun could have done this, and I’m extremely pleased with this result. I’m almost stunned that Sun used what I think is the best license they could have chosen: pressures from other companies, whingeing about freeness for their narrow corporate goals, could have pushed an inferior license onto the code. So yes: this is probably the best outcome I could have hoped for for a Free Java from Sun.
But yes, what does this mean for GNU Classpath? The class library hasn’t been released yet, of course, but when it is, will GNU Classpath matter any more? Signs point to yes — parts of the Sun class library may be encumbered by agreements with other companies, so Sun may not be able to release those parts under a free license. The question remains though: will the parts that are opened obsolete the stuff I worked on? Crypto and TLS may not need more than one free implementation, and the version I worked on may be inferior. Certainly the work I did to try to improve our NIO implementation won’t be useful, because ours still has too many wrinkles in it. In the end it looks like a lot of my code may go to the dustbin of history, if the OpenJDK sufficiently eclipses GNU Classpath.
But, I think I’m fine with this. Even if zero lines of code I’ve written survives into the brave new Java world, I’m really pleased at this result. More free software is better for everyone, and since my skills have improved so much by hacking on Classpath, it was not a waste of time.
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Roman Kennke | 13-Nov-06 at 5:53 pm | Permalink
Hi Casey, I think I can feel with you. Working passionately on something which will then most likely be abandoned feels strange. But: There is no need to be sad. After all, your work (and that of all others hacking on Classpath) is part of the force that led to the announcement today. So what will happen to GNU Classpath, which’s mission is kindof accomplished? I don’t know. What’s for sure is that we will be free from the task of reimplementing something that already exists and focus on new _innovative_ stuff. That’s the outcome today. We don’t have to struggle for achieving some compatibility anymore, but instead can probably help shaping Java in the future.
If there’s is enough motivation for Classpath hackers to carry on (I for one am still motivated for sure) then we should reconsider the actual goals and our position in this new Java universe. Ideally, now, together with Sun. If not, well, then we can still do funky new stuff in other places.
This is all very exciting and I’m sure when everybody has slept a couple of nights over it, the new paths will show up for themselves. Cheers, Roman
sveinung | 14-Nov-06 at 2:43 am | Permalink
Well, you could always go for certifying GNU Classpath for 1.4, since some distros* still need that and 1.4 are almost complete.
* http://planet.gentoo.org/developers/nichoj/2006/08/01/java_1_4_do_we_still_need_it
Dave Gilbert | 14-Nov-06 at 7:06 am | Permalink
Casey,
Our collective efforts on GNU Classpath have surely made an impression on Sun, since they’ve chosen (among many options) *our* licence terms for their OpenJDK. So whether or not any of our code survives, the effort was not a waste. We’ve helped to shape the future of the Java platform on Free systems, which is what we set out to do.
Regards,
Dave
csm | 14-Nov-06 at 11:41 am | Permalink
I watched the web cast, and was surprised that Jonathan Schwartz mentioned the GCJ, Classpath, and Kaffe communities in the Q&A section. I’d be more than happy to participate in the OpenJDK community as I have with the Classpath community.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m extremely happy with this result. My own hubris and pride makes me a little sad, though, since my code may be forgotten, but that’s not really relevant in the big picture.
davee | 26-Nov-06 at 4:39 pm | Permalink
I’m sure the efforts on gnu classpath, especially it’s continued completion, must have impacted their decision. I talked to one of their sales engineers this summer about licensing java for an embedded project, and ended telling them that their costs were ridiculous, our only alternative was to use free java and gnu classpath for such a low cost device. He seemed to be pretty aware that is what people were doing. That their licensing story just didn’t make sense given the free alternative. Thank you!
Audrius Meškauskas | 07-Jul-07 at 12:23 pm | Permalink
Working in GNU Classpath project I have obtained the competence that it is near impossible to get somewhere else – experience in implementing java itself. When I now call Sun’s CORBA, Swing or HTML parser, I now precisely that the code I call is about to do, because I has been writing something that does exactly the same. Does matter at work. For sure I worked in a team like no other. And, without any doubt, at the time I was contributing GNU Classpath was absolutely necessary for the Free world. For sure, I will never be sorry.