Apache project in tune with Java changes

Just weeks before Sun releases the Java code, Apache Harmony graduates to a top-level project

The open-source Java effort Apache Harmony has graduated to a fully fledged Apache project.

Apache Harmony, started last year, is creating an open-source version of Java Platform Standard Edition (Java SE), software for making Java programs on PCs.

About two weeks ago, the board of the Apache Software Foundation approved a change in status from incubator to top-level project, Geir Magnusson, who is the chair of the Harmony Project Management Committee, said Tuesday.

On Monday, Sun announced that it has made its Java software, including its Java SE implementation, available through the open-source General Public License (GPL) version 2.

In his blog, Magnusson said Harmony will continue to operate parallel to Sun's own open-source Java initiatives.

"Apache and Sun have different communities, with different licences, different conditions for contribution and different governance models," he wrote. "[It] doesn't change what we'll be doing. It just means even more open-source Java choices for users and contributors — and that's a good thing."

Moving from incubator status to the top-level designation indicates that Apache Harmony has achieved a sufficiently diverse set of committers, which indicates long-term stability, according to Apache.

IBM, which two years ago urged Sun to release Java as open-source software, on Monday sent out a statement expressing disappointment with Sun's move.

Rather then start a new open-source Java project, IBM said it would have been preferable if Sun had contributed code to existing Apache projects, including Harmony, in which IBM is participating.

IBM also said that if Sun had used the Apache licence, it would be easier to share code from different projects.

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