Will Oracle Ditch Sun’s Open-Source Commitments?

Sun has an impressive list of open source projects. How many will survive if Oracle takes over?

Sun Labs Lively Kernel
A new Web programming environment that supports desktop-style applications with rich graphics and direct manipulation capabilities, but without the installation or upgrade hassles. Written entirely in the JavaScript programming language, a language supported by all the major Web browsers, the system can run in commercial Web browsers without installation or any plug-in components and can function as an integrated development environment (IDE), making the whole system self-sufficient and able to improve and extend itself dynamically.

Project Maxine
Project Maxine Research VM, a virtual machine for the Java language, written entirely in Java, gives researchers a more productive way to explore new software technologies. The Maxine Research VM has the potential to greatly improve productivity by reducing implementation time frames and maintenance costs, while giving researchers more flexibility to explore innovative technologies, according to Sun. Already well-integrated with powerful development tools (NetBeans right out of the box, IntelliJ, JBuilder, Eclipse), the Maxine VM will be fully compliant with the JDK (Java Development Kit) within the next few months.

Project Maxwell Assembler System (PMAS)
The PMAS is a collection of Java 6 packages that implement several assemblers and disassemblers, automated testing for both, and an extensible framework with generators for all of the above. The currently covered instruction set architectures (ISAs) are SPARC, PowerPC, AMD64 and IA32.

Open Media Commons
A community site for projects to develop unencumbered solutions for digital media. Current projects include Project Dream, an open standard digital rights management (DRM) solution, which is Java technology-based, open-source, royalty-free, and independent of transport format. Other open-source community projects are developing royalty-free codecs technology and streaming media services.

Project Squawk
An open-source research virtual machine for the Java language that examines ways to expand Java into the micro-embedded space. Written entirely in Java, Squawk aims at a small footprint, and is Java-compliant and CLDC 1.1-compatible.

Project Sun SPOT
An open-source technology based entirely on Java, the Project Sun SPOT open-source release includes the eBones hardware architecture, software libraries, drivers, a networking stack and the Squawk Virtual Machine.

Project Wonderland
A Java technology-based 3D tool kit for creating collaborative virtual worlds. Within those worlds, users can communicate with high-fidelity, immersive audio and share live applications such as Web browsers, OpenOffice documents and games.

Experimental Stuff
Experimental Stuff is operated by Sun Labs for the purpose of sharing experimental technologies and services with the Web community. The technologies and services available from this site are experimental. They are not Sun products, nor are there plans to offer them as products.