gnu-misc-discuss
[Top][All Lists]
Advanced

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: The GPL and Patents: ROFL


From: ZnU
Subject: Re: The GPL and Patents: ROFL
Date: Wed, 08 Dec 2010 15:59:44 -0000
User-agent: MT-NewsWatcher/3.5.3b3 (Intel Mac OS X)

In article <i46i38$jdf$3@news.eternal-september.org>,
 Hadron<hadronquark@gmail.com> wrote:

> Alexander Terekhov <terekhov@web.de> writes:
> 
> > ZnU wrote:
> > [...]
> >> Why did Google build their own VM? They appear to have done it to avoid
> >> _GPL-related_ restrictions with respect to Java. . . . 
> >
> > +1.
> >
> 
> Then neither of you have an idea and are guessing ;)
> 
> They built their own VM because its optimised for mobile devices. The
> Davlik VM executes dex files, not java files. These dex files are
> optimised to the hilt for devices with low power and memory
> capabilities. In addition the Davlik VM can add further optimisations
> "on device" depending on the HW in use.
> 
> The whole law suit is nonsense. If Oracle were to win this there are
> HUGE repercussions not least about things like profit acrued by phone
> networks who directly profit from apps and usage based on the claimed
> theft of their (Oracles) IP ...
> 
> At the end of the day its all about the sheckles. And the OSS beards in
> Sun and from the mysql team knew exactly what they were doing. They sold
> their principles to the devil.
> 
> You know who you are Harry Angel.

See:
 
http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/08/oracles-java-lawsuit-unde
rmines-its-open-source-credibility.ars

"When Sun opened the Java technology and released the programming 
language under the terms of GNU's General Public License (GPL), it added 
a special exception to the license to ensure that applications which 
link against Java would not be roped in by the copyleft provisions. Such 
an exception was not made available, however, for J2ME--Sun's mobile 
variant of Java. Companies that want to use J2ME for commercial 
closed-sourced development have to pay licensing fees to Sun. Google 
avoided paying those licensing fees, because it built its own totally 
independent Java runtime, compilation mechanism, and bytecode format 
rather than using J2ME itself."

And:

http://tirania.org/blog/archive/2010/Aug-13.html

"There is very little public information on the Google/Sun split over 
Java ME and the creation of Dalvik. The rumors on the grapevine were 
that Google and Sun could not reach an agreement over the Java Micro 
Edition licensing. Sun wanted to sit in the middle between Google and 
the handset OEMs, while Google wanted to create a free-for-all operating 
system.

When it became clear that they would not be able to reach an agreement, 
Google started a project to replace Java Micro Edition and they used 
some clever engineering techniques that blended the best of both worlds."

If this is all correct, it seems pretty clear that Google was 
deliberately trying to skirt Java licensing provisions. Whether or not 
they've managed to succeed is now a matter for the lawyers to figure out.

-- 
"The game of professional investment is intolerably boring and over-exacting to
anyone who is entirely exempt from the gambling instinct; whilst he who has it
must pay to this propensity the appropriate toll." -- John Maynard Keynes


reply via email to

[Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread]