An Incredible Achievement

November 13, 2006 10:07 am General

So this time, Java really goes open source, and in case you’re the last person on the planet to hear, the entire platform will now be released under the GPLv2 (including the classpath exception for some parts). Huge congratulations are due to the entire team who made it happen – you know who you are, you’re all rock stars. Check out the official announcement at 9am PST and watch some of the videos that are streaming in from people right across the free software community. In a bizarrely unplanned turn of events, the Java GNOME bindings go into Solaris Nevada at the end of the week.

Obviously there are some pretty insane challenges that are going to have to be faced over the next couple of months, and I’m personally hoping that the changes they bring will help other communities – everything from infrastructure like public bug trackers and source management, to tecnical issues like what to do with the TCK and what bits to release first to get to a fully buildable state, to more cultural issues like building/growing a community (though arguably it’s already there) and getting people in Sun directly involved. It’s another wonderful shift for Sun that makes things just a little more exciting. A pretty incredible year for the company, and I’m loving every bit.

Hell has frozen over. Very cool.

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