What is Digg?72 Comments
- mooninite, on 10/12/2007, -0/+25Open source java is yesturday's news. No, I'm not being sarcastic.
- somerandomnerd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17Remind me, who is behind Open Office?
- illynova, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14Usually companies that "throw their weight" behind a linux distrobution end up contributing source code (usually their own projects) to the distro, and then recommend that users use that particular linux distrobution.
- mglukhovsky, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Jubuntu? Do you think Israel would adopt it for their government use? I can see it now... Jubuntu - Linux for Chasids.
- markcrules, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12How about jubuntu a linux powered java desktop?
- GiggleStick, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13>> Wow, further reading shows that Sun does in fact support Open Office
>> and that Star Office is based on Open Office code.
Wow, we know. Did you just fall off the turnip truck? - raynevandunem, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Interesting, although the choice for Ubuntu is not surprising. Canonical, as of yet (unlike Novell and Red Hat), isn't tied into any deals with IBM or any other rivals to Sun (which is an enterprise server hardware company), and is a virgin (until the first of June) to the server business. Thus, Ubuntu will (or should) be easy for Sun to make full use of.
- burke, on 10/12/2007, -10/+18NO! AaaaH! My system is slow enough as it is! ;)
- r00tus3r, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10HELL YEH !!! The Ubuntu train is rolling out of the station, get on board!!!
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9I really hope this trend continues. We need more support for one distro, not 80 distros. Ubuntu is an obvious choice for its ease of use and huge support community. While this might just be a move to push Java, industry support is always welcomed. Now only if they could get some more hardware support.
- mikesol, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7There are a lot of digs at Sun in here, which is surprising considering the amount of code and work Sun has donated to the free/open source movement. Never mind the obvious stuff like OpenOffice, without which the Linux desktop would be impossible, there's Open Solaris, some projects with Apache, and much talk of opening Java (it's finally at the point where Java can be packaged with any Linux distro as 'non-free', such as in Debian's repositories).
Sun may not have the best reputation, but it's because they're a company with a big-company mindset, who has people trying to live the Unix philosophy and open their code, and people vying for the dog-eat-dog corporate mentality. I say we need to accept any gifts of code they give as wholeheartedly as possible. - nmap, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Very cool. Lets hope this helps to validate ubuntu as a good choice for both server and desktop applications.
- zootm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Java's "slowness" is largely a myth. Its desktop frameworks tend to be pretty heavyweight, though.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8interesting... but what does this entail i wonder? sun packaging ubuntu in some way? donations? some code?
would some kind company like to donate some code to wine please? (www.wine.org) if you compete with microsoft it would be totally worth your time... (google i'm looking at you :) - bieber, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5How the hell does the GPL not support freedoms one and three? Not only does it guarantee that the recipient of the software gets those rights, but it goes a step further, and guarantees that anyone who ever receives that program in any form will also have those rights. To say otherwise is FUD at best, just plain ***** at worst.
- sapo916, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I mean seriously, it even says so on the Splash Screen of OpenOffice.
- babbling, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Java is not Free Software. Ubuntu is 100% Free Software.
Free Software must have 4 main freedoms:
Freedom 0: Allowed to run the program for any purpose.
Freedom 1: Allowed to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs.
Freedom 2: Allowed to redistribute the program.
Freedom 3: Allowed to release modified versions of the program for the benefit of the community.
Java is definitely lacking freedom 1 and 3, and possibly freedom 2, as well... Is source code out there for all of Sun's java tools? I'm pretty sure it's not. Also, I'm not sure that anyone is allowed to redistribute Java... I could be wrong on that one, though. - zootm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"Does this mean distribution of Ubuntu on their systems?"
Well, they did already have their own Linux distribution which they put on some of their systems, so chances are they'll be replacing it with Ubuntu at some point, if they're to show real support. From the article: "Sun hopes that supporting the operating system will expose its hardware to a new group of users". This implies that it'll be going on at least some of their systems.
"Or does this mean a license change on Java that will allow the Sun JRE, AWT and Swing to be distributed with Linux?"
Java is in the process of being open sourced (I think there's a story about this a few stories down on the frontpage, but it could be further back than that), and that will most likely make it possible to ship Java with Linux distributions.
"Will Ubuntu get cash? Subsidized developers?"
My best guess would be code contributions. Since they said "aggressively supporting" it seems likely that they will be providing something to Ubuntu, rather than passively sitting by. - lane.montgomery, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Open source Java being officially supported only on Ubuntu?
Sure it's open source, so it could go to any distribution. But they may be choosing Ubuntu to be the point-man for Linux. - krewemaynard, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@sembetu: One word in response: Canonical. Ubuntu has commercial backings, while still staying true to the OSS philosophy. It's easier for Sun to have a corporate contact to deal with rather than a less formal group such as Debian (not flaming here, yay Debian, etc).
"why would they bother with a Linux distro." Because Java Desktop Linux sucked hard. They've gone back and forth on Linux over the years, so I wouldn't assume this is set in stone. Remember, Oracle is looking for an existing Linux distro too, because they realize it's easier to support and manage an existing distro than it is do worry over one of their own. Same for Sun here. Sun has an interest in Linux, if for nothing else then because it's not Windows. Ubuntu is a good pick, and I hope it works well for both companies. - ericesque, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3To me, this gets a digg just for getting Sun's CEO to say "The ideals of that community are relatively familiar to us."
How could he have possibly said this more half assed?
"The things those guys like... uh, yeah. We've heard of people liking those things before."
-1 digg for Johnathan Schwartz
+1 digg for Johnny for supporting Ubuntu - OrangeTide, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Well Sun is interested in Ubuntu for x86. Sparcs are supposed to run Solaris. But there are Ubuntu builds for ultrasparc that are unofficial. I've ran one, but had to upgrade PROM to do it.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"We will be aggressively supporting the fork that Ubuntu has been doing,"
yes, but will they aggressively support the spoon as well? and for that matter what about the spork? - nailbunny, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2i hope this means i dont have to put up with that god damned blackdown anymore
- nailbunny, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4well, linux is cheap...
/goes to hell - cius, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"Usually companies that "throw their weight" behind a linux distrobution end up contributing source code (usually their own projects) to the distro"
And the obvious candidate for this is the recently announced opening of Java. I hope Sun helps make Java a big part of the Ubuntu desktop. The last time I used a java app it was a bit glitchy in the menus. If they can squash most of the bugs, stabilize it like a rock, and help bundle it by default in one of the greatest Linux distros on the planet, it might go a long way toward bringing more support for commercial apps to the community and hopefully more users. - bieber, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2But their ideals aren't even remotely similar. Sun produces proprietary software, Ubuntu is against it. They may be familiar with the Ubuntu community's ideals, but they sure as hell don't share them.
- martypal2005, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I certainly hope it entails more support for java:
- Java sdk and re in apt-get packaging systems.
- Since sun already cooperates with Netbeans, also have netbeans in the repository.
I know these are easy to install otherwise, its just I like to do things through apt-get.
I think Ubuntu would get a lot of new users if this happens. - giantrobot, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Um.
Nice press release. Sun (hearts) Ubuntu. So what.
Does this mean distribution of Ubuntu on their systems? Or does this mean a license change on Java that will allow the Sun JRE, AWT and Swing to be distributed with Linux?
Will Ubuntu get cash? Subsidized developers?
Just a dig at SuSe and Red Hat.
Yawn. - bieber, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Your freedom only extends so far that it doesn't interfers with others' freedom. Why the hell should you be allowed to take the hard work of thousands of free software developers, add some proprietary code, and be able to redistribute that as proprietary software? If you want to make proprietary *****, you can do it yourself; don't expect any help from us.
- oringo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Isn't Sun's Niagara an ultra-sparc family processor? AFAIK unbuntu doesn't have a sparc distro yet, does it?
- Xalorous, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Java is free. Java is platform independent. Sun supports Open Office as well. They just happen to aggressively protect Java. And they make hardware.
How are they different from Novell? How is Sun + Ubuntu different from IBM + Redhat? - burke, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"Java's "slowness" is largely a myth."
Not largely, just a little. Maaaybe. Have a look at JEdit or Azureus compared to their C++ counterparts and tell me you don't notice a monstrous difference. - krewemaynard, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2They're talking about the Ubuntu server project (http://releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-server/), which is a fork of the default Ubuntu release, not unlike K/Ed/Xubuntu. I used the Breezy server disk to set up my server--the little changes made to the installer are nice. Can't wait for Dapper to go stable.
- raynevandunem, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I bet that Sun open-sourced most of Solaris just to get it off of its hands and start focusing on hardware almost exclusively. It's a good tactic for computer companies, too: Apple did it with Darwin (formerly OpenStep core for NextStep OS) in order to focus on the GUI above it, hence, Mac OS X as you see it.
The mistake that Sun made under McNealy was that they viewed software as a secondary additive to build as close to the hardware as possible (in this case, using their Sparc chips). Thus, Sun operated at a loss because of this approach. Apple saw the light, and their actions from Mac OS X onward have demonstrated such. Sun, under Schwartz, has finally started to enter into the 21st century. - gekkokid, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2it makes a attractive aquistion now ^^ *cough 2 moooooonths
- dipswitch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The license has changed, and it is apt-gettable now (there were unofficial third party repositories as well, but now it's in multiverse). See http://www.whiprush.org/2006/05/yay_sun.html
Though when you install it asks wether you agree on a very obnoxious license. I promptly removed it because of that. - zootm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Have a look at JEdit or Azureus compared to their C counterparts and tell me you don't notice a monstrous difference."
Azureus doesn't *really* have a C counterpart which works the same way (I personally prefer utorrent, but it seems unfair to compare it with a client specifically designed to be lightweight), and is heavy on memory but reasonably fast. jEdit uses Swing, which is its main problem.
The problems are overstated, but there's not a lot of desktop apps which show that particularly well. Server-side, Java is excellent, though. - zootm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Remember, "Open Source" is not necessarily "Free". If the Java license does not change, necessities like the JRE, SDK, Swing, AWT, and other things can't really be distributed by Ubuntu using their nifty apt-get."
Yeah, I know. But the signs from Sun lately have been much friendlier towards general Free Software, so here's hoping.
If they just put it all under the (commercial usage preventing) Java Research Licence I'd be pretty disappointed, right enough. - MadOgre, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Throwing corporate weight behind a distro is more than just about coding. It's about what Linux really needs to become more mainstream. SUPPORT.
I'm torn on this one. I've got too favorites... SUSE and Ubuntu. I'm conflicted. RedHat is being left behind and all the other distros tend to be home projects by a few people (slackware) SUSE and Ubuntu are steadily making gains the cutting edge areas of Linux which is why I am loving them so much. Simple clean interface of Ubuntu runs great on older hardware and SUSE is just gorgeous to look at and a joy to use. I think I'd love to see either one of them become THE LINUX. - nofxjunkee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@OrangeTide: The very first sentence starts: "Sun Microsystems plans to offer support for the Ubuntu server Linux distribution on its T1 server line..."
T1 servers, as it says later, are SPARC, not x86. - dolson, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Ubuntu is a "fork" of Debian.. But not really.
I thought they were talking about the Ubuntu/Solaris combo at first, which I swear I read existed. - aaylnx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Looks like the main focus here is on the server not the desktop.
From the article:
"Sun Microsystems plans to offer support for the Ubuntu server Linux distribution on its T1 server line, the company said at the JavaOne industry conference in San Francisco....Sun's T1 servers use the company's Niagara multi-core processor. The systems were launched last December and are currently certified for Solaris only."
From what I hear the Niagara processor is pretty incredible for a server processor. It will be great if Ubuntu can run on the Niagara. - raynevandunem, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1sorry, comments for the guy below.
- bluemonki, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Ubuntu 'fork'?? I think you mean distro....
- nargilamonster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1good for Ubuntu, good for SUN, good for Earth
- raynevandunem, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Well, the only reason why its even doing this in the first place is because of Jonathan Schwartz. Before him, there was no OpenSolaris, no Open-sourced T1 Niagaras (or OpenSparc, as they're calling it), no Project Looking Glass, no Ultra 3 Mobile Workstation (a laptop) and *definately* none of what you're hearing about right now. Before Schwartz, Sun was berating the very idea of open source and the GPL.
And now Old Man McNealy, one of the main symbols of Sun's spectacular rise-and-fall past, has left the building, and Schwartz is already in the midst of cleanup (careful: floors are slippery). No more "F U M$" or "Bite Me, Apple" coming from the Sun crew (that's all McNealy's doing). Piece by piece, they're dropping most of that extra baggage (Solaris, Java, Sparc) in order to move themselves into the 21st (piggybacking on a penguin, of course). And considering that Schwartz has already made a name for himself by saying that "PC's are so yesterday" (with which I wholeheartedly concur), I'm suspecting that major changes of a deeper, much more necessary kind are about to occur at Sun.
Sit back and watch. The show's just starting.... - Spoonicus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1'the "fork" that ubuntu has been doing'... you just got an F or grammar ++NODIGG
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Sun, remember Project Looking Glass? Let's get some fresh .debs of it for Ubuntu!
- giantrobot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Remember, "Open Source" is not necessarily "Free". If the Java license does not change, necessities like the JRE, SDK, Swing, AWT, and other things can't really be distributed by Ubuntu using their nifty apt-get.
Typically, if it isn't available through apt-get, I don't really want it; it is too much of a pain to get and maintain. I have work to do, I don't want to monkey around too much. -
Show 51 - 72 of 72 discussions
Browsing Digg on your phone just got easier with our enhancements to the 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is