The Apache Software Foundation has just announced it’s resignation from the Java SE/EE Executive Committee. After several other recent community departures from the EC, and scathing commentary supplied as comments with the votes from other EC members for the recent Java 7/8, it’s clear that Apache is not alone in it’s dissatisfaction with Oracle’s complete and overt control over what is purportedly a community effort. As another Apache member has said:
The Executive Committee is clearly not a Committee of Executives, nor is the Java Community Process a Process involving the Java Community.
I applaud everyone who has done technical work on recent versions of Java, and I’m sure plenty of people will still want to program in Java. That’s great. But please – when you do use Java, please remember that it is *not* built on open standards. It is built on technology (and patents) and licenses that Oracle controls, and is quite happy to exercise it’s control over all things Java.
If you’re happy paying Oracle more and more licensing fees in the future, more power to you. But if you’re not, then you really need to understand the problem of the TCK Trap.
Stay tuned for more updates from the ASF’s Foundation blog on what this means for the many many excellent Java based Apache projects. And, follow the #jcpisdead hashtag to understand what impact it may have on your Java future.
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