I've received this information a few days ago, but I coudn't publish it until now. Sun Microsystems, Inc, the creator of Java technology today (Nov, 13) announced it is releasing its implementations of Java technology as free software under the GNU General Public License version two (GPLv2). Available today are a buildable implementation of Java ME (formerly J2ME) and the first pieces of source code for Java SE.

Available in the Java.net community is the source code for Sun's feature phone Java ME implementation with the Java ME testing and compatibility kit framework. Before the end of the year, Sun will release additional source code including its advanced operation system phone implementation and the framework for the Java Device Test Suite. Sun is also releasing as free software the javac compiler, JavaHelp and Java HotSpot technology, the heart of JVM and JRE for desktops.

In addition, an application developer project is available as part of the Mobile & Embedded community, with links to resources such as the NetBeans Mobility Pack.

Rich Green, execute vice president of Software at Sun said "By open sourcing Sun's implementation of Java technology, we will inspire a new phase of developer collaboration and innovation using the NetBeans IDE and expect the Java platform to be the foundation infrastructure for next generation Internet, desktop, mobile and enterprise applications".

More information on

www.sun.com/opensource/java

www.java.net

nb-openjdk.netbeans.org

What do you think?

Will this accelerate the development and evolution of the platform? Will this reduce fragmentation and drive down development costs throughtout the Java ME ecosystem as Sun is claiming? Will this modify your Java ME developer life?