Free as in Speech, Free as in Beer, Free as in Java
June 20th, 2008 by Justin Ryan
It's been a two year process, filled with its own bumps and brambles along the way, but Sun Java's most eagerly anticipated feature has finally arrived: a fully Open Source implementation.
After announcing their intent to bring Java into the Open Source fold in 2006, Sun made a great deal of headway, though an estimated 5% of the code remained closed, a source of difficulty for those wishing to implement Java in a fully-free environment. The problem has disappeared, however, as OpenJDK has now passed the Java Test Compatibility Kit with flying colors, firmly planting 100% of Java in the Open Source column. Fedora 9 is currently the only distribution to include the JTCK-tested code, though other distributions have already begun to incorporate OpenJDK and will likely embrace the new version for the future.
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Justin Ryan is News Editor for LinuxJournal.com.
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