Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Development
    • Development
    • IT Management
    • Servers

    Sun: Secret Negotiations on Eclipse Continue

    By
    Darryl K. Taft
    -
    February 5, 2004
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      ANAHEIM, Calif.—Sun Microsystems Inc. on Thursday formally addressed the lingering question of whether company would join the newly independent Eclipse Foundation and the answer remains: Maybe.

      Simon Phipps, Sun Microsystems Inc.s chief technology evangelist, addressed a somewhat wary crowd at the EclipseCon 2004 conference here Thursday and told them that although Sun has no intentions of making any Eclipse products, the company would still be interested in joining the Eclipse Foundation if certain “business conditions” were met. He added that “secret negotiations” continue.

      Phipps gave a talk on open source and the value of diversity in the Java community. The address, however, was in a setting where the key question among many was whether Sun would join Eclipse—the company has been openly considering it for more than six months.

      When questioned about the subject at the end of his presentation, Phipps took the question head on: “IBM and Sun compete with each other,” he said.

      “Sun is not going to use Eclipse…Sun doesnt intend to produce an Eclipse product,” Phipps said. “Today, I think the best thing would be for the newly independent Eclipse to join the Java Tools Community (JTC) and then have Eclipse join the Java Community Process (JCP).”

      /zimages/5/28571.gifRead more here about the Java Tools Community and the Java Community Process.

      Phipps said there is room for both Suns NetBeans open source development platform as well as Eclipse. “Our strength lies in our diversity and were here to make the Java market succeed.”

      Phipps comments echoed those in an open letter Sun sent to Eclipse last week. In that letter, Sun said: “The Big Picture is a Java technology solution that ensures no lock in to a given platform, one that generates competitive markets and technologies, and one based on standards. That way developers, deployers and consumers continue to have choice and benefit from technological diversity.”

      /zimages/5/28571.gifClick here to read more about Suns letter to the Eclipse community and the reaction it stirred up.

      Phipps today added that “diversity is our shared strength. Eclipse could not have happened on .Net.”

      In addition, he hinted that Sun may be doing more on the open-source front. When asked whether Sun would be doing an open-source implementation of Java or parts of the Java platform, Phipps replied: “Youll just have to come to JavaOne [conference] now wont you?”

      Yet Phipps bristled somewhat at the suggestion that Sun was somehow being unfair. “I disagree, I think Java is already open sourced. Why hasnt IBM given its implementation of Java to the open-source community?” he asked.

      Meanwhile, Phipps credited Sun as being a spur for the open source movement.

      “I believe the open-source movement was triggered by the release of Java in 1995—because of the ability to just go get the code and use it,” Phipps said. He also said that “Sun is the largest open-source activist after [the University of California,] Berkeley,” which spawned much of the technology that underlies open-source operating system and networking technology.

      Addressing the knock that Java is not standardized, Phipps said Java is standardized in the only way it could have been standardized in 1995, and added that “the JCP has been a good steward of Java.”

      Yet, he said he understood some of the criticism about Sun having a heavy hand in the JCP but offered to the audience that it is an incorrect perception.

      “In the early days of Java, Sun employees were the spec leads on most JSRs [Java Specification Requests], but thats not true today,” Phipps said.

      Otherwise, Phipps discussed the nature and history of open source. “Open source is the methodology of the massively-connected era,” he said.

      The benefits of open source include good returns on investments, software quality is as good or better, and lock-in is avoided, he said

      However, the number one factor in going with an open-source solution is choice and freedom, he said. “People use open source because they want to be free to choose again.”

      /zimages/5/28571.gifWant the story latest news in programming environments and developer tools? Check out eWEEKs Developer Center at developer.eweek.com.

      Darryl K. Taft
      Darryl K. Taft covers the development tools and developer-related issues beat from his office in Baltimore. He has more than 10 years of experience in the business and is always looking for the next scoop. Taft is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and was named 'one of the most active middleware reporters in the world' by The Middleware Co. He also has his own card in the 'Who's Who in Enterprise Java' deck.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×