Java Goes GPL!
Sun announced that Java will be released under the GNU Public License V2! You should have no trouble reading about it, such as in Eweek’s article Sun Pours Out Java Cup. Or read a Q&A with James Gosling on open sourcing Java.
This means that the J2SE, J2ME, and J2EE source code will be released under GPL2 sometime in March 2007. It includes a special clarification, ala GNU Classpath, so you can write closed source applications that run in the VM. One immediate effect of all this is that Java can now be included in Linux distributions. In the longer term, this is going to have repercussions for .NET.
For a while, I had some interest in .NET, being no less than a ECMA/ISO standard, and even bolstered by open source hacker Miguel de Icaza (whose passion is infectious). But with recent events, the outlook for .NET has changed. Now that Novell has partnered with Microsoft and both have agreed not to sue for patent infringements, it is obvious that Mono cannot be considered safe from patent encumberment and royalties. And Sun has chosen GPL for Java’s new license, effectively granting free use of any patents to every programmer who uses it. The choice for me is very easy and obvious now. Kudos to Sun!