Javalobby removes Java specs at Sun’s request

Javalobby, an online community of Java developers, has removed from its new JDocs documentation Web site several vital Java APIs at the request of Java founder Sun Microsystems, an official with Javalobby said on Friday.

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Sun cited business interests in requesting the removal of APIs including J2SE (Java 2 Platform Standard Edition), J2ME (Java 2 Platform Micro Edition), and J2EE (Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition, according to Rick Ross, president of Javalobby. Also removed were JavaServer Faces and Java Media Framework, Ross said.

Sun is adamant that Sun-copyrighted APIS are to be posted only from Sun’s site at www.sun.com, Ross said on the javalobby.org site. Sun officials were unavailable for comment on Friday afternoon.

“The simple answer is that Sun has asked us to remove those APIs from the system and informs us that its business interests are not served by allowing them to be included,” said Ross in a message on javalobby.org. “I take responsibility for not having obtained formal permission in advance, and I was foolish to imagine Sun would naturally want to help us deliver the best possible service to Java developers. I'm sorry that we are not presently able to provide them.”

In an interview Friday, Ross stressed that Javalobby's only interest is in increasing knowledge-sharing in the Java developer community. “I am sad” that Sun requested the removal, Ross said.

“I am challenged to understand the rationale that concludes Sun’s business interests are adversely impacted,” he said.

“They told us they did not want us to publish any of their copyrighted documentation,” Ross.

“Our sole interest from the start has been to increase the knowledge-sharing in the Java developer community and help developers be more successful with the platform,” Ross said on Friday.

JDocs had been set up last week as a centralized repository for Java documentation and APIs, at www.jdocs.com. APIs such as BEA Systems’s Project Beehive still remain, among the approximately 100 APIs on JDocs. Users still can link to Sun’s Java APIs from JDocs, but the documentation will not be accompanied by 51 community-contributed notes about the APIs, Ross said. The community-contributed notes feature is one of the best on JDocs, and most of the notes available pertained to the APIs that were removed, he said.

Ross said he had been in contact with Sun executives about JDocs prior to its inception and was surprised at Sun’s request, made just a few days ago. 

“Ironically, Sun was not only the very first friend in Java with whom we shared details about JDocs.com almost two months ago, but it is also the only organization to have asked us to remove any API while a huge number have asked to be added,” said Ross on javalobby.org.

The dispute between Sun and Javalobby comes at a time when other companies using Java, such as IBM, have criticized Sun for what these vendors believe is having too much control over Java. Sun has responded that it is acting as the faithful steward of the Java language to maintain compatibility in the language.