Date: Tue, 8 Dec 1998 13:46:41 -0800 (PST)
From: Ellen Maremont Silver <silver@oreilly.com>
To: cool@eklektix.com
Subject: O'Reilly Comments on Sun Java/Open Source Announcement

In response to Sun's announcement today that Java will be released
under a new open source-like license, O'Reilly & Associates' president,
editors and authors are available for comments and have made the
following statements:

Tim O'Reilly, President/CEO, O'Reilly & Associates:  
"One of the most powerful things about Open Source is that it pulls
itself into niches.  Someone has a very specific problem to solve,
which doesn't seem to matter to anyone else, but eventually goes on to
become very important.  For a new technology like Java, letting the
user community extend it to meet specialized needs expands the
boundaries at which innovation can occur.

"Java is one of the key technologies for the future of computing, with
its support for networked, smart devices.  Moving toward Open Source,
Java will bring us that future much faster, and with more interesting
surprises."

Robert Eckstein, author, "Java Swing":
"This is a tremendous opportunity for Java. The Community Source
License bestows Java with the more appealing aspects of the Open Source
model, significantly widening the braintrust that can further develop
Sun Microsystem's Java platform. This agreement also helps to ensure
that Java flourishes in a homogeneous environment that both commercial
and non-commercial entities can reap benefits from."

Stig Hackvan, Open Source developer; author, "Open Source Licensing":
"Although the Sun Community Source License (SCSL) is clearly an
important step towards a more cooperative relationship with users of
Sun technology, it is also clearly not an Open-Source(tm) license.  One
important feature of the Open Source Definition is that users of
open-source software are free to change it in any way deemed
necessary.  Sun's license is directed at maintaining control of the
Java technology standard, however, and so the SCSL compels licensees to
keep in step with Sun's standard, both now and in the future."

Mike Loukides, editor, O'Reilly Java series:
"I have long believed that Java was the most important new software
technology on the scene, and that it offered a new paradigm for
building widely distributed computing systems. It is also clear that
the Open Source community has development skills and energy that are
unsurpassed by anything in the commercial world. Bringing the two
together has immense consequences. It means that Open Source
applications developed under Java can immediately run on Windows and
commercial UNIX systems, in addition to Linux, without a lengthy
porting effort. Java benefits because it can tap the energy and
expertise of Open Source developers--a talent pool that can't be
matched."

Contact information and biographical information for the above
individuals:

Tim O'Reilly, President/CEO, O'Reilly & Associates, Inc., publishers of
books about open source software, the Internet, Java, and Windows:
O'Reilly brought together the first Freeware (Open Source) Summit,
April, 1998; his company has hosted the annual Perl conference, this
year to include Linux and Apache; the company earns approximately 50%
of its income ($40 million, 1998) from open source-related books and
services.  
Contact:  Ellen Maremont Silver, (707)829-0515 ext. 322;
silver@oreilly.com

Robert Eckstein is the author of the recently released book, Java
Swing,and he is currently working on a book about Java Commerce for
O'Reilly.  He also writes for JavaWorld magazine.  
Contact: Lisa Mann, (707)829-0515 ext. 230; lisam@oreilly.com

Stig Hackvan is an Open Source developer who has worked on projects
ranging from XEmacs to Linux. Currently he is focused on intellectual
property issues and tools for facilitating cooperation; his book "Open
Source Licensing" will be published by O'Reilly in the spring.
Contact: Stig Hackvan, (707)987-8754; stig@hackvan.com.

Mike Loukides is the Java series editor at O'Reilly & Associates.
Contact: Lisa Mann, (707)829-0515 ext. 230; lisam@oreilly.com

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