LAMP gets a J

You can't add J to LAMP and spell anything sensible. So some took to calling Linux "stacks" with Java "LAMJ", "LAMPJ" or "LAMP-J". But they never seemed legitimate — Not so long as Java didn't have an open source license that passed muster with the rest of the L+ alphabet.

That changed on November 13 (as we go to press here), when Sun finally announced that it would be releasing Java under the GPL --specifically under Version 2, which is the license Linux has used since it came out, and has stuck with (at Linus' insistence), even after Version 3 was announced last year.

Sun has hinted for some time that it would go with the GPL for Java. Jonathan Schwartz, the company's CEO, hinted as much in a conversation I had with him on stage at the Syndicate conference in December 2005. Now Jim Thompson has another intriguing question: "Is Solaris going to be the original GPLv3 *nix platform?"

In his blog Jonathan writes, "The GPL is the same license used to manage the evolution of GNU/Linux - in choosing the GPL, we've opened the door to comingling the communities, and the code itself. (And yes, we picked GPL version 2 - version 3 isn't available, but we like where the FSF is headed.)"

Whether or not Solaris and the FSF arrive at the same place, Jim has one more question: "What are the chances that Ubuntu would offer a version of their distro with a GPL-ed Solaris kernel underneath?"

Redraw your own conclusions.

- Doc Searls

Resources:

Jonathan Schwartz' blog:
http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/

Jonathan Schwartz' blog post:
http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/entry/fueling_the_network_effect

Jim Thompson: http://www.smallworks.com/