Nov 14 2006
Java now Open Source under the GPL2
Yesterday announcements were made that Java has been released under the GPL2 Open Source licence. Here’s some of the relevant links:
- Java.net Editorial: Not a Hoax
- Free and Open Source Java
- OpenJDK - The home of the new open Java development, including mailing lists, Subversion source repository, etc.
Apparently it’s an early version of Java 7 that is immediately available under the new licence, this includes the Hotspot VM and the ‘javac’ compiler. However, the Java API class libraries and certain 3rd party components are still not yet open.
Personally I think this is great news. Adoption of Java has clearly been hampered on open source operating systems because it remained under a closed source licence for so long. It has allowed technologies such as Mono/.Net and Python to get ahead for development of cross platform desktop apps where Java may have a been a viable choice if only it’s licence had allowed it to be shipped along with standard packages.