Ever since Sun released Solaris 10 under the Open Source license, this Unix OS has got a new lease of life which otherwise had been written off as a casualty of competition from Linux. Since then, many have predicted Sun to offer the same Open Source treatment to Java.Sun has resisted such a move to prevent incompatibilities and fend off a loss of control over the Java brand. Sun fears doing so will open the doors for competitors to grab and change Java, particularly Microsoft and IBM who have more marketing muscle power than Sun.
Sun has, however, altered its software licenses and processes to make it easier for licensees to view Java source code. At the 2006 JavaOne Conference, Sun is expected to discuss the Java Distribution License which makes it easier to bundle the desktop Java Runtime Environment with Linux.
However, analyst predict that Sun will stop short of sharing the code to Java itself - at least for now. But Open Source Java remains a possibility according to Rich Green of Sun. "It's still on the table. We continue to analyze the situation in the marketplace," Green said. "There is comment, and there is value. We want to make sure we are doing the right things for the right people."
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Source: Sun to open-source Java | Java inches closer to open source