Back in May 2006, Sun announced during the JavaOne conference it would release Java as open source, licensed as GPL software. While it was released as GPL, it still contained about 5 percent proprietary, non-free code - the Java trap, as the FSF calls it. The FSF called to dismantle this trap, and now the IcedTea project has reached an important milestone.
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Member since:2005-07-06
It is however true that with the final 5% of non-free code eliminated in the openjdk project the Java Trap as a whole is history.
...and for more pragmatic individuals, there never was a "Java Trap." While the individuals involved are to be congratulated on technical achievement, I still feel that the whole "Java Trap" was more political than practical.
Yes, free software is good, but it isn't always better.
If anyone deserves a large amount of credit here, it is Sun for listening to their developers and doing what they asked for.
Edited 2008-06-19 21:29 UTC
Member since:2008-06-12
Hear Hear.
Also what a lot of people conviently tend to forget is the fact that the JDK source has always been available. Just not under a license as liberal as the GPL.
But the advantage for a developer being able to debug trough the whole stack of the JDK has always been available.
Member since:2005-07-06
As it was, it was impossible to simply ship a JRE or a JDK in a distribution as-is, and it was impossible for people to debug and track bugs in the tradition of open source development against such a piece of software.
Apart from the last five percent, which we have heard nary anything from Sun on in the past two years other than "We're working on it". Net effect? You still needed a JRE or a JDK from Sun.
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:2005-07-06
Well you are completely wrong.
1. Free Software is always better , it goes on more OS , more platform and is never obsolete.
2. The people you call pragmatist are not , pragmatist always have a problem when a big majority of possible client are unserved because of license or technical problems. If there was no huge real paying demand for it SUN would have ignored the demand.
3. The FSF and GPL are pragmatist and practical. Why else would a foundation exist , with a legal team to defend it and be in used and funded by some many peoples first and corporation with the same goal second.
You know the coward that you are part of always have the opportunity to band togheter get a lawyer and go against the FSF and GPL if it's really harming and damaging your industry and your rights and products. But we both know they are not.
4. They both deserve the credit , Sun management for not listening to there developpers who said there was no problem and the one who fixed the "JAVA trap".
Personnaly I know a lot of really good developper who are extremely happy that Java is now an option they can use to improve there Free Software solution.
Surely the inclusion natively of JAVA in GNOME , KDE , xfce , and others negate the noise and compelte irrealism that you and your ilk suffers.
Member since:
2008-06-12
The Java trap wasn't about the 5% of non-free code iirc; It was about the issue that one could write an opensource program in java but you would always need a non-free Runtime.
It is however true that with the final 5% of non-free code eliminated in the openjdk project the Java Trap as a whole is history.