Oracle licenses server version of Java
By Stephen Shankland
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
May 30, 2000, 5:00 p.m. PT
And then there was one.
Sun Microsystems and Oracle will announce tomorrow that
Oracle has licensed the server version of Sun's Java software,
leaving IBM as the only major holdout that hasn't agreed to Sun's
terms.
"They have signed," said George
Paolini, vice president of Java
community development, in an
interview today. Except for IBM, "I
would say that pretty much sums up
the major players out there."
IBM and several other companies
were conspicuously absent in
December when Sun announced the
server version of Java, called Java 2
Enterprise Edition. With the sign-up of
Oracle, most of the holdouts have
bought into Sun's vision of Java.
Fifteen companies now have licensed
J2EE, Paolini said. About a half
dozen companies that are
"significant," but not major haven't
hammered out a J2EE license, Paolini
said.
J2EE is designed to let companies run complex business
software on powerful servers without having to worry about
underlying details such as the particulars of the server's email or
database software. IBM, a major Java backer, likes the nine
software components that make up J2EE, but wants to be able to
offer them a la carte instead of as a full nine-course meal. Other
licensees objected to royalty fees and concerns about J2EE
adoption schedules.
Paolini attributed the hitches to Sun not giving enough warning to
partners. "We didn't do our homework on educating the players
and potential licensees on how to go about acquiring the
technology. When we unveiled it, it was a bit of a surprise," he
said.
Discussions with IBM continue daily, Paolini said.
The cooperation of Oracle is a significant step in the arduous path
Sun has walked in trying to balance control over its Java software
with widespread industry adoption. Sun also is trying to soothe
the concerns of Java partners with a revision to the Java
Community Process (JCP) Sun invented to give others a say in
the future of Java.
Sun will announce the latest version of this process, called JCP
2.0, on Thursday, Paolini said. In it, Sun will cede more control to
outside players, but still reserve veto power to shoot down
changes to core parts of Java it doesn't like.
On Thursday, two 12-company executive committees will be
announced, Paolini said--one for the Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME)
designed for gadgets such as Palm Pilots or car navigation
systems, and the other for the J2EE server and Java 2 Standard
Edition (J2SE) desktop computer editions of Java. The
committees will serve until November, when they'll be replaced by
elected members.
In the new process, major changes to J2ME, J2SE or J2EE will
require approval of both Sun and at least two-thirds of the relevant
executive committee, Paolini said.
Sun also has effective veto power over changes to the Java
programming language and the Java virtual machine--the critical
software that allows Java programs to run on such a wide variety
of computers.
"We still have a role I would like to term stewardship," Paolini
said. Others haven't always agreed with that description, however.
The earlier version of the Java Community Process has been
mockingly called the Java Gated Community Process because of
the degree of "stewardship" Sun exercised.
The new process has its own potential pitfalls, though, Paolini
said.
"It certainly has its share of bureaucracy," Paolini said of JCP 2.0.
"The biggest risk is not the adoption of the technology, it is
bureaucracy slowing the evolution of the technology down."
IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola are members of the JCP 2.0
committees, Paolini said.
Microsoft, embroiled in a years-old lawsuit with Sun about its
Windows-specific modifications to Java, has not joined JCP,
Paolini. Microsoft's contract to sell Java expires in March 2001,
he added.
Ralf |
