SpringSource Moves dm Server to Eclipse

VMware's SpringSource division contributes its dm Server OSGi-based technology to the Eclipse Foundation to form Project Virgo, an initiative to deliver a module-based Java application server.

VMware's SpringSource division has announced the contribution of its dm Server technology to the Eclipse Foundation to form Project Virgo, an initiative to deliver a module-based Java application server.

The announcement comes at the 2.0 release of the dm Server, which "represents a major milestone for the project and for enterprise application development with OSGi [Open Services Gateway initiative] in general," SpringSource CTO Adrian Colyer wrote in a Jan. 12 blog post about the move. "I'm delighted to now be able to reveal the next step in the dm Server journey: We have submitted a proposal at Eclipse.org to continue development of the dm Server as part of the Eclipse RT top-level project."

Colyer said moving the dm Server effort to Eclipse.org "has a number of practical implications for users of dm Server:

- Project hosting, home pages, forums, and downloads will all be moved to Eclipse.org infrastructure

- The license will change from the current (largely) GPL license, to the Eclipse Public License (EPL)

- It will be much easier for other organizations and community members to get involved in the ongoing development of Virgo"

Moreover, "The combination of the license change and community hosting at Eclipse.org opens the code base to a much broader set of users and developers," Colyer said. And the next release of dm Server, Version 2.1, "will be developed and released from Eclipse.org."

"The growth of run-time technologies at Eclipse has been gathering momentum over the past two years," Mike Milinkovich, executive director of the Eclipse Foundation, told eWEEK. "With this latest contribution by SpringSource it has hit critical mass. It is exciting to see the vision of a modular Java run-time take shape within EclipseRT."

The dm Server technology "has been in full-time development for over two years" at SpringSource, Colyer said. However, SpringSource "set out with a vision to make modular application development a reality for enterprise developers."