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Topic: Open Source

Oracle debuts JDK 7, MySQL 5.6 at OSCON, pledges better OS support

Summary: Oracle debuted JDK 7 and a preview of MySQL 5.6 at OSCON 2011 this week and acknowledged it is trying to be a better open source citizen -- but it is not trying to be an open source company.

Paula Rooney

By for Linux and Open Source |

Oracle unofficially debuted JDK 7 and a preview of MySQL 5.6 at OSCON 2011 this week and acknowledged it's trying to be a better open source citizen.

JDK 7 should hit the streets this week, one key executive said at OSCON 2011. A preview of MySQL 5.6 was also made available to attendees of that open source show this week.

But make no mistake: the Redwood City, Calif, company is not trying to be an open source company, noted veteran Oracle Senior VP Steven Harris, who spoke at OSCON.

Oracle is driven by lines of business  .. lines of business make decisions around open source projects. They are not, in contrast to Sun, made in the context of a larger scale open source strategy," said Harris during a brief keynote on Monday, contrasting how Oracle views its role in the open source community vis-a-vis Sun. "Its a behavioral difference, by design ... Oracle doesn't have an open source strategy. "

That doesn't mean execs don't care about open source, or that the corporate interests are overwhelmingly of a legal (vs engineering) nature.

Oracle values open source and will continue to work with open source communities, but it is driven by customer needs and solutions, he said. Oracle remains committed to OpenJDK and the JCP, he noted.

"We've definitely had some challenges in how we communicate and work with the open source community. We're been working to improve. I will say it is getting better. We made some improvements and our goal is that our open source developers should behave like other open source developers. We're not where we should be yet but it has gotten better and it will get better. "

But it's clear Oracle has a long way to go. No one applauded when Harris announced that JDK 7 would hit the streets this week. He needed to prompt the audience of developers to clap at the news.

Topics: Open Source, Oracle

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  • RE: Oracle debuts JDK 7, MySQL 5.6 at OSCON, pledges better OS support

    yawn, stopped letting java update long time ago. Go away oracle. You stink.
    timspublic1@...
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Oracle debuts JDK 7, MySQL 5.6 at OSCON, pledges better OS support

      @timspublic1@...
      Java is great as long as it is GPLed.
      The community innovates at a very fast pace.
      Linux Geek
      Reply Vote

      • The java community doesnt

        @Linux Geek Updates to Java are slow and painful...and the same is true if you try to develop with Java.
        otaddy
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Oracle debuts JDK 7, MySQL 5.6 at OSCON, pledges better OS support

        @otaddy
        BS!
        FOSS tools like Eclipse are ten times better than .nyet and are free.
        Linux Geek
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Oracle debuts JDK 7, MySQL 5.6 at OSCON, pledges better OS support

        @Linux Geek,
        "FOSS tools like Eclipse are ten times better than .nyet and are free."

        How are the better?
        bmonsterman
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Oracle debuts JDK 7, MySQL 5.6 at OSCON, pledges better OS support

        @Linux Geek Eclipse is an IDE. .NET is a platform like Java. SharpDevelop is an open-source (LGPL) IDE for the .NET platform. It's free too.
        Rabid Howler Monkey
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Oracle debuts JDK 7, MySQL 5.6 at OSCON, pledges better OS support

        @Linux Geek
        I get this argument all the time from .Net developers vs Java developers. The benefits with Java are essentially you are not tied to one OS. With .NET your stack has to be windows based. Folks who poo poo Java rarely have any experience and when they do its because they can't get over the configuration process... Look go out to Dice.com and do a simple search of the number of Java jobs to .NET jobs... Overwhelming Java wins... If the number of coorps out thier are hirining for Java way more (last I checked over 10,000 more), then that tells you something is valued differently in the Enterprise environment... Just Saying!!!
        SaipanMan95
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Oracle debuts JDK 7, MySQL 5.6 at OSCON, pledges better OS support

        @SaipanMan95,<br>"Folks who poo poo Java rarely have any experience and when they do its because they can't get over the configuration process... ".<br><br>First of all I would like to say...I'm not here to poo poo Java. It's undeniable that you can develop Java on pretty much any OS, and .NET is windows only. Definitely a strike against .NET. My problem with Java is that it just hasn't progressed very much in recent years. Here is a list of thing I would like to see in Java.<br><br>1. Delegates:<br> I know you can accomplish the samething using inner classes, but it's really clumsy and it's not very eloquent.<br><br>2. Extension Methods<br> This eliminates the need for library of helper classes. If you want some centralized custom string functions...you just write extension methods to the string class. It's cool...I don't care what anyone says.<br>3. Partial Classes<br> Essential to writing code generation routines. The generated code goes in one file, your custom code goes in another.<br>4. Properties<br> Please, eliminate the need getter and setter methods.<br>5. Anonymous functions <br> Basically an inline delegate. Seriously cool.<br><br>5. Lambda Expressions<br> Short hand for anonymous function. Aso Seriously cool.<br><br>I mean really...what new features are in the core java language since what 2001?
        bmonsterman
        Reply Vote

  • RE: Oracle debuts JDK 7, MySQL 5.6 at OSCON, pledges better OS support

    Not surprising that no one applauded. Everyone hates Oracle at the moment, and for good reasons.
    snoop0x7b
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Oracle debuts JDK 7, MySQL 5.6 at OSCON, pledges better OS support

    Java is to .NET what Windows 3.1 was to Windows 95. It was its predecessor, but there is no comparison which one is better. Nobody clapped because they were lamenting the fact that they're stuck with Java, not its superior cousin. :-)
    Tiggster79
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Oracle debuts JDK 7, MySQL 5.6 at OSCON, pledges better OS support

      @LynxSteve most IT developers will switch to .Net the day it becomes *truly* cross platform compatible. C# should rightly be referred to as the son of Java, as it copies from it, although it's now added some bells and whistles.
      champions_league
      Reply Vote
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