Java fragmentation threatens as Oracle-Apache talks stall
Google's Android will continue to run an unauthorized version of Java for the foreseeable future — something the Apache Software Foundation has warned will fragment the community. Talks between the ASF and database giant Oracle on tests that could certify the open source version of Java running on Android have made no progress, …
You can already run j2 me code on Android. what I would like is a full j2se to run on it. Forgot the name of project. Why6 don't Google just add a j2me stack that would make things even better.
No doubt it would be useful for people migrating existing apps/code to the android platform, but for any new code where you have the choice j2me has to be the wrong way, it's pants, ok for it's day and the devices it ran on.
Nowadays, the devices coming out have ever so more fancy and varied hardware. They are also more powerful, so you can do greater abstraction, android pretty much lets you do say around 70-80% of your code in what could be ported to any java environment, the remainder being some veneer for UI and platform interfacing. (Of course the %s can vary significantly if you are doing something specialised).
"Oracle was asked for its side of the story, but — once again — declined to comment." ...... Is that Oracle and Larry sitting on the political fence and hedging bets? Hardly the action of anyone in control of an empire, is it, with it being much more the reaction of someone trying to hold on to one which has run out of steam/intellectual property.
Also: what about talk of merging ChromeOS and Android in the future?
Y'know.
"The big dog of Java mobile is Java Micro Edition (Java ME), which is on three million devices such as BlackBerries. "
Did you mean "3 BILLION devices can run the castrated, buggy and largely unusable version of Java called J2ME" ??
J2ME is a huge pile of poo. Just try to do things like storing a Record (there are no files), dial a number (not possible at all) or use UDP. All of that will leave a long-lasting impression of FAILURE in your brain.
Now I'm confused. Are ASF saying that JAVA may well fragment because the TCK is not open source. But surely, if the TCK becomes free and open source, then there is a chance that JAVA would fragment anyway as someone could just change the TCK for their own ends and create lots of other certificates. Or have I missed the point here?
It sort of takes me back to the days when I couldn't run a Microsoft Java app on anything but a Microsoft product.
It is pathetic that this continues, the testing kit should be openly available, now, otherwise OSS Java is crippled!
The Java base should be open, period, and free versions should not be limited to desktop OS's!
As an example there is no Java support on Windows CE 5, and there was nly pathetic crippled J2ME support on PalmOS, all because of the absurdly restrictive licensing and testing nonsense by Sun!
Oracle need to fix this sharpish!
