Apache Harmony
Apache Harmony was a project of the Apache Software Foundation with the aim of developing an open source version of Java technology . It was announced at the beginning of May 2005 and was a lively discussion among Java developers. With the disclosure of Sun's official implementations of Java technology under the GNU General Public License as OpenJDK in 2006 , the need to develop Harmony no longer existed in its initial form. Following the takeover of Sun Microsystems by Oracle in January 2010 and the loss of IBM as an active support partner of Harmony in October 2010, the decision was made at the beginning of November 2011 to end the project.
history
Reasons for the new development
The main reasons for disagreement between GNU Classpath and Apache projects are due to differences between the General Public License (GNU Classpath also contains a GPL linking exception ) and the Apache license . These inconsistencies seem to be mainly caused by different software companies that prefer the somewhat more permissive Apache license, which also allows the development of non-free products. GNU can also be bound with proprietary code, but it is legally more difficult to derive the non-free products from GNU Classpath yourself. Still, many software developers believe that the licenses and philosophy of these communities are not so different that segregation is necessary, and the inability to compromise is often viewed negatively.
Initiation
The Harmony project was originally conceived as an attempt to bring together all developers of free implementations of the Java programming language . Many software developers expected it to be a project above GNU , Apache, and other communities. GNU developers were invited and participated in the original, preparatory planning. Nevertheless, it was later decided not to use any source code from the GNU Classpath and instead to write the required classes from scratch and hope for large source code donations from software companies.
Last stage of development
The expected code donations from software companies have been received over time. Apache Harmony contained executable code, including Swing , AWT, and Java2D, contributed by Intel . The share of implemented classes was last over 99% (as of November 2008). Apache Harmony was officially recognized as a full Apache project on October 29, 2006.
End of the project
After the takeover of Sun Microsystems by Oracle and a lawsuit against Google over the Java implementation Dalvik , uncertainty arose in the Java environment in 2010. Sun and the new owner Oracle refused to allow Harmony access to the test system (Java SE TCK) for certification. IBM had given up the active support of Harmony in October 2010 and wants to get involved with Oracle in OpenJDK instead .
A vote by Project Management at the beginning of November 2011 made the decision to end the project. The last status has been moved to the so-called "Attic", where it can still be accessed.
Development team
In contrast to GNU Classpath , which is developed by many different employees, Apache Harmony was mainly developed by various companies. It was getting large source code donations at once, and most code changes between versions are not easily noticeable. This made it look more like a corporate consortium than a collaborative venture. However, the general discussions on the mailing lists are free for everyone.
See also
Web links
swell
- ↑ a b Apache Harmony gives up
- ↑ Mark Wielaard: Toward a free Java LWN.net, May 24, 2006
- ↑ GNU Classpath License