IBM has sent an open letter to Sun Microsystems, urging the company to make Java technology open source, CNET News.com learned late Wednesday.
In a letter sent by Rod Smith, IBM"s vice president of emerging technology, IBM offered to work with Sun to create a project that would shepherd development of Java through an open-source development model. If implemented, portions of Sun"s most valuable software asset--Java--would be freely available, and contributors ranging from volunteer programmers to large corporations would submit changes to the Java software. "Sun"s strong commitment to open-source Java would speed the development of a first-class and compatible open-source Java implementation to the benefit of our customers and our industry," Smith wrote to Rob Gingell, a Sun vice president. "We are firmly convinced the open source community would rally around this effort."