In separate efforts, Sun Microsystems and Microsoft are taking steps to try to satisfy developers irked with the vendors' recent policy decisions pertaining to application development.
For Sun, the company has conjured up new license plans for Java intended to satisfy developers who want an all-out open source Java while Sun strives to maintain compatibility within the language. Sun also has been flying the flag of its new JavaServer Faces (JSF) technology for Web application development within Java, seeking to have it become the standard. But not all are impressed.
Microsoft, meanwhile, has been holding to its stance that it will cease paid support for its Visual Basic 6.0 programming language at the end of March, no matter how many developers sign an online petition seeking a commitment to the language. Thousands have signed the petition so far.
Sun has been pelted with calls to make Java open source for roughly the past year. Competitors that have relied on Java, including IBM and BEA Systems, have been among those on the bandwagon pleading for an open source Java that would be less tied to Sun's control.
Inching in that direction, Sun last week announced two licensing schemes: the Java Internal Use License, or JIUL, and Java Distribution License, or JDL. The JIUL license lets developers change Java source code for internal use only, but relies on users themselves to respect compatibility. The JDL is a narrowly focused effort that allows for developing deployments of Java on specific platforms.
"I think Sun's making a lot of moves in the right direction to give Java the advantage of open source without actually having to open-source it," said Java developer Joseph Ottinger, editor of TheServerSide.Com, an online community for enterprise Java developers.
Open source provides the advantage of a contributing user community, but full-blown open source also could result in versions of Java that are not in synch with the official platform, reducing the quality of the Java brand, Ottinger said. "The biggest danger, from Sun's perspective, is that some major vendor would release an incompatible Java," said Ottinger.
"We're trying to respect the needs of both sides, to create a licensing and collaboration atmosphere that's as close to open source as possible while not violating the expectations of the rest of world around interoperability and compatibility," said James Gosling, CTO for Sun Developers Platform Group, during Sun's teleconference announcing the license plans.
Transition's rocky road
For Microsoft, the company is dealing with pleas to maintain a strong commitment to the legacy Visual Basic 6.0 programming language at a time when the company is intent on moving forward with its .Net technology.
As of Thursday, there were 3,876 signatures to a petition to save VB 6.0, including 235 developers classified as Most Valuable Programmers by Microsoft. The petition is online at http://classicv b.org/Petition/.
Moving from VB 6.0 to VB .Net has been challenging, both Microsoft and programmers agree.
"It's a different language," said Visual Basic programmer Don Bradner, who has been part of Microsoft's Most Valuable Programmer community, earlier this month. "It's like me telling you that you have to write InfoWorld in French."
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