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AlBlue’s Blog

Macs, Modularity and More

Apache Resigns from the JCP

Java 2010 Harmony

Oracle has responded to Apache's resignation from the JCP with a fairly bland “oh no, please don't” message. I've written more at InfoQ if you're interested.

What's interesting is this really starts the beginning of the end. It really doesn't matter if Java 7, or for that matter, Java 8 comes out. Java has always succeeded because of the community and the wide quality of open-source Java projects that have driven the infrastructure forwards. However, Oracle has completely destroyed the Java community with its sheer incompetence in handling this dispute. Further, it has stirred up more anti-Oracle emotion than even Microsoft has these days; from OpenOffice (now LibreOffice), Hudson on the move, and now the farce that is the Just Customers Please, Oracle have gone from saviour to villain in a matter of months.

Oracle needs to remember that developers choose the technologies that are used in projects. Given an equivalent offering from Oracle or Sybase, or Oracle and DB2, who do you think developers are going to lean towards in their analysis and recommendations?

This has lit the fuse on the Next Big Language, because this is the final indication that Java is on the way out, regardless of what progress is made on the delivery of Java SE 7 or even the fictitious Java SE 8. What's needed is a new language, and a new runtime. Something like Google Go, but with decent modularity and exceptions.