Newsletter Sign-Up

Receive the latest technology news and information.

Q&A: Sun's Jonathan Schwartz on Java's future

He's not so sure about the idea of an open-source Java

By Carol Sliwa

June 19, 2003 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - SAN FRANCISCO -- Jonathan Schwartz, executive vice president of software at Sun Microsystems Inc., spoke with Computerworld during the recent JavaOne conference here about the possibility of Java becoming open-source, the potential market for Java in mobile devices and Java's relationship with IBM. Excerpts from that interview follow.
Should Java be made fully open-source? The problem with open-source is that [victory] goes to volume, and that's evident in the Linux community today where ISVs [independent software vendors] are qualifying to Red Hat and abandoning everyone else. Why? Because Red Hat has volume.
If Java were open-source, Microsoft could take it, deliver it as they saw fit and drive a definition of Java that was divergent from the one that the community wanted to be compatible. And to the victor would go the spoils of that nefarious action.
To the extraordinary credit of the Java Community Process [JCP], we have a uniform compatible standard that now spans hundreds of millions of devices, hundreds of millions of smart cards, hundreds of millions of desktops and tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of servers. So you have to really be careful in understanding the distinction between open-source and open standards.


Jonathan Schwartz of Sun Microsystems Inc.

An IBM executive once equated those two terms to me. IBM is dead wrong, and I also think that IBM is somewhat duplicitously straddling that gap for its own benefit, exploiting the open-source community on the one hand and then on the other hand, trying to derive a proprietary advantage from its implementations of open-source products and trying to fork the marketplace. I don't believe that open-source leads to more innovation. I think open-source leads to a different kind of innovation. ... What will cause open-source products to win is if they are better, and it has nothing to do with source code. To any CIO I've ever met, source code is like a free puppy. It's great the day you get it. It's really cute. But then you have to feed it, get it its shots, take it for a walk, etc.
Some developers who attended your JavaOne conference said they think Java should be open-source. I think the licensees understand the integrity that the Java Community Process drives. It's interesting about the Java Community Process, because the only companies that really don't like the community process are the companies that have approached me or one of my direct reports with an attempt to try to do something outside the JCP and leave everyone else

Recommend Digg Twitter ShareThis

Email Print Send Feedback Reprints

Jump to comments

Web Services

Additional Resources

Xerox

Win a color printer!

By using solid ink technology only from Xerox, you could save up to 65% by printing color for the cost of black and white. Enter for a chance to WIN a PhaserTM 8860 network color printer!

Microsoft

Upgrade to Internet Explorer 8 today.

Save time and mitigate security risk. Deploy it now.

Sybase

NEXT-GENERATION MOBILITY PLATFORMS

In this white paper, IDC analyzes the role of next-generation mobile enterprise platforms as organizations seek a more strategic deployment of mobile solutions.

Learn the important issues you must consider before starting your next mobility initiative. Get your mobility white paper from IDC now, compliments of Sybase.

White Papers & Webcasts

Informatica 9 Launch: Transform your Business. Transform your world.

LIVE Nov 10, 2009 12:00 PM ET

Architecting Business Intelligence Applications for Change: The Open Solution

LIVE Nov 12, 2009 02:00 PM ET

Red Hat Continues to Redefine SOA: SIMPLE. OPEN. AFFORDABLE.
SOA enables enterprises to accelerate business execution while driving higher quality and customer satisfaction.

Top to Bottom Performance Management Excellence at the City of Chicago
View now.

Open Source Middleware Reference Architecture
A roadmap of open source software capabilities across a diverse set of application requirements.

Effectively Implementing Datacenter Automation
Effectively select and deploy the best datacenter automation solution today!

Understanding the Business Benefits of an Open Source SOA Platform
Address the serious business challenges that SOA helps to overcome.

Aligning IT to Business: The Rising Importance of Application Delivery Networks
Application Delivery Networking (ADN) will play a vital role in helping enterprises incorporate strategic technologies to achieve business initiatives.

Enterprise Acceleration
Best practices to help IT developers become more productive.

Strategies for Driving Down IT Support Costs with Lite ITIL Practices
View this now!

Extending COBOL to SOA, Web Services and Beyond
Download this white paper, free, compliments of Micro Focus!

Mitigate Risk, Lower Costs and Improve Network Efficiency
Create a stable IP network that not only meets today's challenges, but is flexible enough to also meet future demands.

All White Papers | All Webcasts

Computerworld Reports

8 Questions To Ask About Your Intrusion-Security Solution

Computerworld Technology Briefings IT Service Management

Computerworld Briefing - Analytics: The Art and Science of Better

All Computerworld Reports

	Application/Web Development
	Web Services/SOA
	Computerworld Daily News (First Look and Wrap-Up)
	Computerworld Blogs Newsletter
	The Weekly Top 10
	Cloud Computing

resource center