"Java developer community is defining the standard"

BANGALORE: "We have released more Opensource than any other company," declared Sun Microsystems evangelist, Matt Thompson. Highlighting the Open Solaris initiative, he said that open source had always been a key part of Sun's strategy. "When Linux and other open source software came about, people asked, are you the leader of open source? The fact is we have never been a proprietary company, but we have had a different way of looking at 'open' source," he said.

'Open Source says nothing about compatibility but on the other hand, Open Standards defines compatibility. What you really need is both open standards and open source and knowing when you can use each,' Thompson said.

He added that with the entire source code for next generation Mustang being available on java.net, Java developers could contribute to the next standards of Java. "So the Java developer community is defining the standard," he said.

On the recent open source project called Harmony, an Open Source Java initiative, initiated by the Apache Foundation, he said that it would be the next generation of Java, which allows developers to contribute and compete. He also added Sun Microsystems would also participate in this project.