Simon Phipps's Blog: J2SE Archives

Posted by webmink on August 18, 2006 at 07:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For the last few months I've been writing an occasional series on the issues surrounding open sourcing Sun's Java implementations over on my other blog. Realising there are plenty of people on java.net who never get over there, here's a summary of the story so far.

Will Sun use GPLv3? (November 20, 2006): Some people have been throwing rocks at the GPLv3 process from outside, and others have been accusing Sun of joining the rock throwers by opting for GPL v2 for the Java platform. Here's why I disagree with both.
Why Bother Open Sourcing Java? (August 18, 2006): While the actual code-base will only be touched by the 400, the 4 million will benefit from the extended deployment range, the greater pool of expertise and the greater diversity of interests that will result. Open sourcing Sun's Java implementations is hard, has risks and affects only the 400 now, but it will quickly grow benefits that the 4 million will reap.
An Ongoing Process (August 15, 2006): I briefed press an analysts in London to provide an update on the process of taking Sun's Java implementations open source. It's worth noting that this is part of an ongoing process that reflects Sun's roots.
Respecting The Developers (July 25, 2006): So why doesn't Sun just pick an OSI-approved license, apply it to the Java source code and be done with it? Why claim it's so hard to open source the Java platform?
Forks Aren't a Problem (May 26, 2006): I keep hearing people claiming that the biggest problem that would be caused by making Sun's Java SE implementation open source is forking. But I have to disagree. The implication is that all forks are incompatible forks, but the two are not synonyms.
No Unfair Advantage (May 24, 2006): There are two dimensions to compatibility. The one everyone with developer genes can grok is about having the same APIs doing the same thing everywhere the word "Java" is used to describe a virtual machine environment. The other is more subtle. It's about ensuring no major vendor - Sun included - gets an unfair advantage in the market because they have been able to exert control in a way that yields a competitive benefit.

I'll try to keep this list up to date, so you might want to bookmark it.

NeoOffice/J takes another stride

Posted by webmink on January 30, 2004 at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Patrick Luby let me know that he's released v0.8 of NeoOffice/J, the Java-front-ended version of OpenOffice.org for Mac OS X. And that he's added Clipboard support! WoooHoo! Way to go Patrick! It's getting sooo close.

[Also posted to Webmink]

Big speed step in NeoOffice/J 0.7.1

Posted by webmink on January 04, 2004 at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

My friend Max has a new 17" Powerbook so we spent the afternoon gathering the extra software he wanted to get up to fully productive speed. Among the downloads was NeoOffice/J v0.7.1, Patrick Luby's latest release of his Java-front-ended OpenOffice.org. The new version loads and runs way faster than the previous one and I'd really recommend it to Mac users as its compatibility with MS Office is way better than AppleWorks.

One particularly interesting aspect is that Patrick has been able to significantly improve Java2D drawing performance (200% to 300% in some cases) so that NeoOffice/J is nearly as fast as its X11-based OpenOffice.org 1.0.3 counterpart. NeoOffice/J is all-round excellent - great functionality in a responsive package, and a great demonstration of both the power of the Java environment and the quality of the Java implementation on Mac OS X.

[Also posted to WebMink]

NeoOffice/J 0.7 Released

Posted by webmink on October 13, 2003 at 02:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While we're celebrating the third birthday of OpenOffice.org, I'd like to pass huge congratulations to Patrick Luby on the release of v0.7 of NeoOffice/J for Mac OS X. He has single-handedly written a highly usable front-end for the Mac OS X port of OpenOffice.org 1.0.3 (itself an enormous achievement - credit especially to Ed Peterlin and Dan Williams) so that it doesn't require X11 to use. This new release makes it almost feature-complete, and it will make a lot of Mac users very happy.

Patrick has avoided needing either X11 or extensive Aqua programming by using core Java technology and leveraging its existing integration into Aqua. As a porting strategy I think that's pretty smart. This release adds printing, which for me was the missing link. There's still plenty of work to be done, but it's very cool.

This program is a case-study in the power of the open source method. With neither Sun nor Apple in a position business-wise to work on a Mac version of OpenOffice.org, the fact that all the source code was freely usable allowed capable and committed developers to 'do their own thing' and meet a community need. Traditional approaches to software would have left the idea to wither - this approach, through the energy of a few software engineers, lets many flowers bloom.

[Also posted to Webmink]

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