While acknowledging obstacles remain, a Sun Microsystems official on Tuesday left open the possibility that Sun might offer its Java programming language under an open source format. Speaking during a Sun Software Summit in Menlo Park, Calif., Sun"s Rich Green, vice president of the developer platforms group at the company, acknowledged IBM"s February open letter proposing the open sourcing of Java. But he stressed there are complex issues pertaining to ensuring compatibility if Java was offered up to open source. Sun would be very favorable to an open source destiny for Java if compatibility and other issues, such as brand and license management, can be addressed, according to Green.
"Neither IBM nor Sun knows if it"s feasible to fulfill the [open source goal] and meet the constraints," Green said. However, Sun continues to talk with IBM about the idea, he added. Another Sun official, John Loiacono, senior vice president of operating platforms, expressed a less-optimistic viewpoint. He noted previous Sun pronouncements that Sun would make Java open-source as soon as IBM opens up its products such as WebSphere.