It's strange to follow state of minds of big companies about open source (they rarely speak about Free Software but that's another story;-)). Dalibor Topic, Mark Wielaard and all friends from GNU Classpath spent a lot of time talking with Sun to try to open source Java (or even just be able to get the tools to make open source java virtual machines and API). They are some moves in that direction and people like Tom Marble is working hard to make Sun's JDK license DFSG compatible and integrate Sun's JDK in the Debian distribution. Robert Brewin, co-CTO of Sun Microsystems' software group, said: "I believe that we will have components of Java released into open source within the year," meaning by next June, Brewin said. "I think [release of] the whole thing will take a little bit longer." One more step.
Another amazing interview is the one of David Kaefer, director of Business Development, Intellectual Property and Licensing at Microsoft who called the open source software movement a "very powerful force in the industry." He also wants us to believe that Microsoft will be more and more open... Wait and See ;-)
