I was always skeptical of Sun’s possessive and schizophrenic licensing of Java … originally CDDL (Open Source, but not quite Free), then licensed under GPL2 in 2006 but with numerous patents filed.
Some versions had “classpath exceptions”, like Standard Edition (SE), and some didn’t, like Mobile Edition (ME.)
So I stuck with C/C++ and Unix scripting languages like Perl and PHP, which don’t rely on any one company.
Oracle has clarified what those Java patents mean, with a lawsuit against Google for using Java, over 7 software patents originally granted to Sun. They even tossed in some copyright violation complaints.
(Oracle/Sun also has numerous restrictions on their downloadable Java binaries, including right of agreement termination at any time.)
The US Patent Office created a software and business method process minefield when it allowed patents on the most trivial of ideas reduced to practice.
One of the patents being litigated even involves the JAR format.
This is just the latest example of why software patents are of no benefit, except to monopolists who want to impede progress and openness.
allthingsd.com: Love, Larry: Here is the Oracle Statement and Final Complaint Versus Google
cnet.com: Sun settles Kodak’s Java suit for $92 million (2004)
cnet.com: Sun picks GPL license for Java code (2006)
cnet.com: Why Oracle, not Sun, sued Google over Java
theregister.co.uk: Apple threatens Java with death on the Mac
