Java Open Sourced
Sun has open sourced part of Java under the GPL(GNU Public Licence) v2 license.
bq. The initial release today will include the HotSpot runtime, javac compiler, JavaHelp, and Sun’s Java ME implementation. The rest of Java will be released under GPLv2 early next year. (”Javalobby.org”:http://www.javalobby.org/java/forums/t84244.html)
The interesting part of this release is the inclusion of a Classpath Exception which
bq. permits you to link your code to open source Java without forcing your code to fall under the GPL as well. (”Javalobby.org”:http://www.javalobby.org/java/forums/t84256.html)
In addition to the open source GPLv2 license, Sun is going to dual license Java so that commercial entities can use it without having to worry about the viral nature of the GPL, even though the Classpath Exception is, as I understand it, suppose to handle this.
In order to help us with this transition, “Sun has set up an FAQ page”:http://www.sun.com/software/opensource/java/. In addition, there is also the “OpenJDK website”:https://openjdk.dev.java.net/.
The following links have more information:
* “Open Source Java Editorial on Java.net”:http://today.java.net/pub/a/today/2006/11/13/open-source-java-editorial.html
* “Java GPLed on the O’reilly onJava.com website”:http://www.oreillynet.com/onjava/blog/2006/11/java_gpled_1.html?CMP=OTC-FP2116136014&ATT=Java+GPLed
As I find more links of interest I will post them here.
