Killing Java
Will Oracle kill Java?They're currently suing Google over the way Google used Java in Andriod.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67B5G720100813
I don't know anything about the lawsuit or what's being alleged except for the article. Most interesting is Orcale's CEO's statement:
Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison has said he views the Java software as a key asset, pointing to its use in a variety of electronic devices, from PCs to DVD players."Sun's corporate philosophy was obviously very different from Oracle's in terms of enforcing the Java patents," said Edward Reines, an IP litigator at Weil Gotshall who is involved in separate patent litigation against Oracle.
The fact that Oracle sees Java as an "asset" and is talking about patents is probably the end of Java. For the last 10 years, open source enthusiasts have been begging Sun to make Java open source. Sun kept saying "no" but they kept throwing little bones out -- submitting Java to ANSI, free compilers, free tools, etc. Looks like maybe that's over. Gosling quit citing "ideological differences."
Now this.
As to Google, my prediction is that they will create their own language. Google's search engine is built on Linux but the kernal was completely re-written. So I think Google's response, if Oracle takes their ball and goes home, is to create another ball.
For the open source community -- they're in trouble. If Oracle starts to lock down mySql (now that they own that too), the open sourcers are in the strange situation of not having a database or a language. Their only desktop OS has almost no vendor support now (NVidia already dropped Linux support for their video cards). Apache is about the only thing left. And Mono.
It would be ironic if C#/Mono became the new open source standard. In truth, when I look at the desktop world, I think it's almost shifted so that Microsoft is now one of the least locked down, usable environments. Apple has made huge strides and become a major player. Based on market cap, they're actually bigger than Microsoft now. But they're infinitely proprietary.Google is awesome, but nothing if not proprietary.With Oracle's hard line stand on Java (if it continues), Microsoft is actually the least locked down of all the major vendors.I frankly never understood all the Microsoft hatred. Most of the Linux guys I know are fanatics about Apple, which is way more locked than anything Microsoft ever did. Many of them are Oracle fans, too, which has always been locked.
Java is 15 years old now, and, while it's really cool, is in need of an overhaul . Maybe this will be the impetus to get a new Java-like/C#-like open source language?
Although, more likely, Google will just create its own and lock it.
