Key Java figure says 'JCP no longer credible'

A senior member of the Java Community Process has resigned from his position on the board's Executive Committee citing Oracle's role within the committee's processes as a driving factor.

Doug Lea —whose position on the board was due for renewal this year— won't be reapplying to sit on the JCP's executive committee in future years as he feels that "there is no remaining useful role for an independent advocate for the academic and research community on the EC," he said in his explanatory departure letter sent on Friday. "I believe that the JCP is no longer a credible specification and standards body," he added.

According to Lea, where the committee could once "foster innovation, quality, and diversity, independent of that from Sun" he feels that the rules —and violation of rules— are now a source of lost ground.

"Rather than fixing rules or ceasing violations, Oracle now promises to simply disregard them. If they indeed act as they have promised, then the JCP can never again become more than an approval body for Oracle-backed initiatives," he added.

Within the core Java platform —which Lea says "roughly corresponds to Java SE"— he argues that the only place that he can see a useful role for the academic and research community is OpenJDK.

Noting that on the surface the organisation is not a direct alternative for JCP, he maintains that "at this point, a Linux-style model for collaboratively developed common source is likely to be more effective in meeting upcoming challenges than is the JCP."

Oracle recently told the Apache Software Foundation that it would not issue the Apache Harmony project with a TCK (Technology Compatibility Kit) license for Java SE without Field of Use restrictions that prevent the suite of tools from being used anywhere except the desktop.

The result of Oracle's decision means that the Apache Harmony project cannot attain its goal of becoming a "TCK-tested, spec-compliant, Apache-licensed implementation of Java SE," a spokesperson wrote on the Apache blog.

IBM recently abandoned the Harmony Project too, in favour of the OpenJDK project instead.