Sun releases new license for Java compatibility tests

SANTA CLARA, USA: Sun Microsystems, Inc. has announced the immediate availability of the OpenJDK Community Technology Compatibility Kit (TCK) License. With the new release, Sun is placing the means for certifying "Write Once, Run Anywhere" compatibility into the hands of the community.

This license is for the Java Compatibility Kit (JCK). The JCK is the Technology Compatibility Kit, a suite of tests, tools and documentation that determines whether or not an implementation complies with the Java Platform Standard Edition 6 specification. The evolving OpenJDK community understands that the value of their efforts, as well as the resulting open source Java technology implementations, will be enhanced if these implementations can be certified as compatible.

"This announcement is another milestone in the release of Java technology as open source software. We're eager to see OpenJDK based implementations pass the JCK, so that we have compatible and free Java technology implementations available in GNU/Linux distributions everywhere," said Rich Green, executive vice president, software at Sun.

He added "As a result of this new license and the efforts of the OpenJDK community, we will see the promise of open source Java technology fulfilled through accelerated innovation and broader distribution, which will benefit the entire IT industry."

The OpenJDK Community TCK License will enable developers to test the compatibility of their contributions to the OpenJDK project. It will also allow distributors to test complete implementations that are substantially derived from OpenJDK and distributed under GPLv2. Organizations or individual developers that use the OpenJDK Community TCK License and then successfully pass compatibility testing, will also have the option of branding their implementation with Sun's "Java Compatible" trademark and logo.

The release said, Sun is licensing the JCK under terms that will permit contributors to fully comply with the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 (GPLv2), while giving the OpenJDK community the means to test for compatibility.