Open Letter or Extortion?

Today, Geir Magnusson Jr., the Apache Software Foundation#039;s VP of Java Community Process, issued an Open Letter to Sun Microsystems, addressed to Jonathan Schwartz. I put Open Letter in quotes because it reads like an ultimatum demanding a license they like to the Java SE 5 technology compatibility kit within thirty days (or else). This request/ultimatum seems to have come out of left field. Is Apache Harmony so close to completion that it#039;s ready to officially pass the JCK? Not according to its project page, which states it has 95% of the Java API complete but not necessarily compatible. Now, 95% of the Java platform is a big milestone for which the Apache Harmony engineers deserve a lot of credit for their hard work, but how useful would several thousand JCK errors be to them at this point in the project cycle? If I were in their position, I would instead ask that the JCK#039;s current read-only license be rescinded so that the Harmony engineers can compile and run the tests specific to whatever they are individually working on to see what issues remain. IMHO, the JCK shouldn#039;t be modifiable (it helps define the Java platform), but anyone should be able to compile and run it without legal hindrance. But that isn#039;t what Mr. Magnusson seems to be asking for. I just looked at my calendar and noticed that thirty days from today is smack in the middle of JavaOne, two days after Jonathan Schwartz#039;s keynote. ...

Date: April, 10 2007
Url: http://www.java.net/blog/2007/04/10/open-letter-or-extortion

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