Sun will open source Java "in months"

SUN HAS indicated that it is only a few months from releasing Java under an open source licence.

Simon Phipps, chief open-source officer for Sun, said that the company was trying to work out how to keep Java compatible as it did not want to threaten Java's "write once, run anywhere" concept.

The move to Open Sauce followed the replacement of Scott McNealy as Sun CEO by Jonathan Schwartz. Schwartz is keen on open sourcing Java while McNealy always blocked it.

However, according to Infoworld, there is a hard core of Sun middle managers who are opposed to the Open Sourcing of Java and are likely to present obstacles for its release under a new licence.

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