Sun says the open source version of its Java development kit has been picked up by two popular Linux distros. Canonical's Ubuntu 8.04 LTS distribution and Red Hat's forthcoming Fedora 9 both include OpenJDK, with the latter also to offer NetBeans 6.0, Sun's open source IDE (integrated development environment).
Additionally, Canonical has certified Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Server Edition on several of Sun's x86-based hardware systems, the companies announced.
Sun says the news means that developers using the popular distributions can count on having free tools to build out the next generation of web-based applications with. It also hopes to see Java-based technology integrated into the "core of GNU/Linux distributions," it said, though resistance could be put up toward further increasing the already substantial body of programming language support needed for a basic Linux system (C/C++, bash, perl, python, and so on).
Jeet Kaul, VP of client software at Sun, stated, "With an OpenJDK-based implementation included in both Fedora and Ubuntu, developers can now rely on a stable, open source Java as an integral part of these GNU/Linux distributions."
Sun first GPL'd Java in November of 2006. Matthias Kose, a Ubuntu engineer, maintains the newest version 6 releases of Sun's JDK and JRE (Java runtime edition) for the upstream Debian distribution that Ubuntu is based on. However, the packages are relegated to the "non-free/libs" branch, and potential users are warned that they'll have to accept a Sun EULA (end-user license agreement) prior to installation. Since the GPL generally frowns upon additional license limitations, the Debian package documentation may be out of date on this point, however (Debian? Out of date? Say it isn't so!).
Mark Murphy, Canonical's global alliances manager, expects OpenJDK to appeal primarily to corporate developers. He stated, "We look forward to Java technology helping to expand the growing ecosystem of Ubuntu-based applications that serve businesses of all sizes."
Meanwhile, over at Red Hat, CTO of Middleware Sacha Labourey boasts proudly of his company's early involvement with Sun on the OpenJDK project. "Thanks to Red Hat's expertise on the Classpath and GCJ projects, Red Hat has been contributing significant engineering effort to the OpenJDK and IcedTea projects. Red Hat was one of the first Linux providers to join the OpenJDK community, sign the OpenJDK Community TCK License, and bring a stable, free software implementation based on OpenJDK."
Fedora 9 is scheduled for release on May 13. A preliminary copy of the release notes may be available here.
More details, including pre-built, packaged binaries for Ubuntu 8.04, are currently advertised here, on Sun's OpenJDK page.
