Oracle’s suit against Google for the use of Java in its Android portable operating system continues to reverberate through the open-source movement. In the newest development, Google has declined to participate in the upcoming JavaOne conference, an event formerly hosted by Java creator Sun Microsystems and now run by Sun’s new owner, Oracle.
Joshua Bloch of Google’s Open Source Programs Office, in a posting Friday on the company’s open-source blog, wrote that Google wished it could attend, “but Oracle’s recent lawsuit against Google and open source has made it impossible for us to freely share our thoughts about the future of Java and open source generally.” Bloch noted that the company had attended every JavaOne event since 2004.
Talks Between Google and Sun
Some observers are raising the possibility that, if the suit continues, Java may split into different versions, most notably a Google-branded version designed to avoid legal obstacles.
Others have warned that the battle could have unforeseen consequences for open-source software, which has found a home in many corporations. According to some estimates, as much as 75 percent of open-source software usage is inside corporations.
Oracle is viewed as trying to get as much leverage and revenue as possible from its Sun acquisition earlier this year.
In 2006, Sun made Java open source, hoping to increase its usage on the web and in data centers. When Google started developing its software platform for mobile devices, it founded the Open Handset Alliance and created Android on a Java path that it says diverged from Sun’s.
Google and Sun held talks over the last three years about remaining legal issues, but no agreement was reached. Reportedly, Sun chose not to sue Google over Java because Sun’s then-CEO Jonathan Schwartz was championing open source, including the use of an open-source version of the company’s Solaris operating…