The Java/JCP/Apache/TCK swirl continues

There's lots of activity as people try to figure out what is going on with Java, where Oracle is taking it, what is the future of the Java Community Process, etc. Here's a quick roundup of some recent chatter:

• At eWeek, Darryl Taft reports on recent JCP election news, and includes some commentary from Forester analysts John Rymer and Jeffrey Hammond.
  

  
  Hammond also told eWEEK:
  
  “Right now Oracle holds all the cards with respect to Java, and if they choose to close the platform then I don’t think there’s much anyone can do about it. Some customer might actually be more comfortable with that in the short term if it leads to renewed innovation. In the long term I think it would be counterproductive, and hasten the development of Java alternatives in the OSS community – and I think Apache would be happy to have a role in that if things continue along their current path.”
  
  ...
  
  Forrester’s Rymer also points to the business side of things when he says:
  
  “One thing that puzzles me is IBM’s role in this dispute. IBM has been a big backer of ASF and its Java projects, including Harmony. We think IBM turned away from Harmony in ‘renewing’ its partnership on Java with Oracle. ASF’s ultimatum to Oracle must be related to IBM’s move, we just don’t know exactly how. I expected that IBM would continue its strong support of ASF as a counterweight to Oracle."
  



• On the GigaOm website, Canonical's Matt Asay posts a long in-depth analysis, including a call for Oracle to communicate its intentions widely:
  

  
  Oracle needs to head off this criticism with open, candid involvement in the Java community. It needs to communicate its plans for Java, and then listen for feedback. Oracle needs to rally the troops around an open Java flag, rather than sitting passively as Apple and others dismiss Java, which is far too easy to do when Java comes to mean “Oracle’s property” rather than community property.
  



• On the Eclipse.org site, Mike Milinkovich of IBM posts a hopeful view from the Eclipse perspective during the run-up to the JCP election:
  

  
  The Eclipse Foundation is committed to the success of both Java and the JCP, and we are optimistic that the JCP will remain a highly effective specification organization for the Java community and ecosystem.
  

  
  The Eclipse Foundation was one of the organizations that was re-elected to the JCP executive committee.


• Eduardo Peligri-Llopart, a long-time Java EE voice from Sun, posts a nice article talking about the complexities of communicating Oracle's JVM strategy, as an insider at Oracle trying to help that process occur. It's nice to see him continuing to try to be a voice communicating Oracle's decision-making processes as they are occurring.


• And Stephen Colebourne has an excellent 3-part series of articles analyzing:
  
  
  
  • The Apache Software Foundation's November 9 statement about the JCP and TCK licensing
  
  
  • Oracle's response to the ASF's statement.
  
  
  • The Java SE 7 and 8 JSRs
  
  

So, the swirl continues. There's lots to read. The Java community continues to evolve, and software continues to get written. If you have pointers to more information about what's going on and what it all means, send them my way!