Sun releases Java EE 5, promises openness

by Robert McMillan

May 16, 2006 —

Sun Microsystems Inc. has made its Java programming language a little more open-source friendly, releasing a major enterprise update at its annual developer conference Tuesday, and cautiously committing to turn Java into an open-source project.

The Java Enterprise Edition 5 release (Java EE 5), billed by Sun as the most significant update in six years, supports a number of important Web services standards and is designed to be easier to use than its predecessor, called Java 2 Enterprise Edition.

However, Sun remains tentative on the open-source front. Over the years, the company has open sourced many Java components, but has stopped short of opening up the core Java specifications. Sun worries that such a move could threaten Java's "write once, run anywhere" promise by allowing another company to promote an incompatible version of Java.

During JavaOne's opening keynote address, Sun Software Executive Vice President Rich Green promised attendees that an open-source Java is on the way, but that Sun still has some concerns.

"There are two battling forcers here," said Green, a long-time Java executive who returned to the company just weeks ago. "There is the desire to completely open this up

IDG News Service