Vikram Goyal's Blog

November 2006 Archives

Motorola to develop Java ME stack under Apache

In news that is sure to drive further the fragmentation issues of development using Java ME, Motorola has announced that it is going to develop its version of Java ME under the Apache license. As the report says: "it's not clear whether the Motorola and Sun projects are complementary or competing". I can't understand if Motorola is legally authorized to create a product called Java ME when Sun is the legal owner, even though it is being open sourced? Can anybody clarify this?

The timing is absolutely wrong and the aim seems foggy. Sun has just open sourced Java ME, so why develop a conflicting product, even under the ambit of Apache? The stated aim is to reduce device fragmentation. Ha! By developing a different base API to Sun's Java ME? How will that work? Not only will developers have to content with the established device fragmentation issues, this will introduce another layer of complexity and API fragmentation. Have you tested on Sun's Java ME based devices? Have you tested on Apache Java ME based devices?

The truth seems to be a marketing push to garner respectability within the Java ME development community to push Motorola and create a Motorola-centric development ecosystem.

"Although we are not aware of Sun's open-source plans, we would hope Sun would join in this effort," said Mark VandenBrink, a senior director and chief platform architect in Motorola Mobile Devices business.

Huh? Who, within the community, is not aware of Sun's open-source plans?

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