Sun lobbied IBM about supporting the JTC, but IBM company officials declined the offer believing that Eclipse, with 56 companies now on its board of stewards, already has the necessary momentum to compete effectively against Visual Studio.
"We think Eclipse has a tremendous amount of momentum. We do not see a lot of obstacles standing in its [Eclipse's] way," said Bob Sutor, IBM's director of WebSphere Software. "Frankly, we are more focused on working against our number one competitor, Microsoft. We see it boiling down to more of an Eclipse-based IDE world vs. Visual Studio," he said.
Sutor added he does not believe there will be much self-destructive competition between the Eclipse and JTC camps and is confident both sides will work to make it clear that each will serve to complement the other.
Borland executives said they have been involved in the group since September, but felt this was not the appropriate time to launch it.
"It's still in the early days. There's still a lot of work to be done," said George Paolini, vice president and general manager of Java Solutions at Borland.
Paolini said that Borland would consider joining in the future if the group solidifies its road map and direction.
"The mechanics are not in place today," he said. "I want the JTC to push the JCP, but I want there to be a structure in place in which the JCP is accountable to the JTC and vice versa."
Some analysts do not think it is necessary for IBM and Borland to join the JTC in order to make it an estimable player in the tools market. Big Blue should only join if its only goal is to better Java as a framework.
"If IBM's goal is the betterment of Java as a framework and as an approach to development and deployment, [it] should join. But if [IBM wants] Eclipse to be the dominant IDE in order to drive more sales over to their runtime then they should not. [That decision] would cast light on [IBM's] goals," said Dana Gardner, senior analyst at The Yankee Group.
IBM officials "may talk the Java talk but they are really walking the WebSphere walk," Gardner said.
SAP's Michael Bechauf, vice president of NetWeaver Standards at the company, sought to dispel any perception that Eclipse was building a version of Java different from the one accepted by the Java community.
"I can't really see why Eclipse would be seen as a second Java," Bechauf said.
(Tom Sullivan contributed to this article.)
This whitepaper explains the terminology and concepts behind Data Replication technologies and establishes some sizing rules through worked examples. Learn the new paradigm in disaster tolerance—protect data anywhere.
Download now »
Server virtualization is a popular option for dealing with mounting datacenter costs. Another equally promising approach is the use of an Application Delivery Controller. Citrix NetScaler provides a low-cost way for organizations to reduce their server count and accrue cost savings from a reduction in space, cooling, power and personnel.
Download now »
The emergence of WLANs has created a new breed of security threats to enterprise networks.
Included in HP ProCurve WLAN solutions is security technology that alleviates threats from WLANs through:
* Monitoring wireless activity inside and out of the enterprise
* Classifying WLAN transmissions into harmful and harmless
* Preventing transmissions that pose a security threat to the enterprise network
* Locating participating devices for physical remediation
Effectively address data protection challenges, implementing solutions that help store and protect business–critical data while cutting costs and improving efficiency and reliability.
Download now »
Sign up to receive InfoWorld Resource Alerts
3 Recommendations
