GPL’ed Java

It’s funny to read articles like this one where big close source companies like Oracle and IBM are complaining about Sun’s decision to release Java under the GPL. What makes it amusing is how both sides tap dance around their real motivations and instead talk about whether Sun is “alienating” the Apache and Eclipse community or aligning with the Linux and Gnu communities, blah blah blah.

Bullshit.

Any idiot can see the real reason IBM and Oracle are pissed that Java will be released under the GPL instead of the Apache license. It’s the same reason Microsoft frequently attacks the GPL and praises the BSD license. IBM and Oracle are pissed because the Apache license would have allowed them to take Sun’s Java code, stuff it into their proprietary products (like WebSphere) and give nothing back.

Sun’s decision to release Java under the GPL is the right decision for Java and for the Free Software community. By releasing Java under the GPL, Sun is keeping the playing field level for *all* players.

New blog home, new blog name, new blog software

Welcome everyone to the new home of the blog formerly known as “Negative Acknowledgement”.

I’ve moved my blog from it’s old home at http://bob.web-wide.net/blog here to wordpress.com and have re-christened the blog to it’s new title of “Blasphemous Bits”. By necessity the blog is also running on new software (WordPress) instead of the Typo software it used to run on.

Why the changes?

• New location: I’m hoping I can get a renewed enthusiasm for blogging now that I no longer have to deal with the little minutias of trying to run my blog on an old spare box in my basement at the end of my home cable internet connection. As much as I love the geekyness of running my own blog software, I’ve had a hard time keeping the motivation to fix things when they break (like when comcast changes my IP!). I’ve decided it makes more sense to let someone else host everything.
• New software: I still love Typo and would recommend it highly to anyone looking to host their own blog software. But what I’ve seen of WordPress looks pretty good so far, and quite frankly I couldn’t find any free Typo hosting.
• New name: I created my old blog almost two year ago, when I was mostly doing network administration. The name “Negative Acknowledgement” was meant to be a play on the standard ack/nack’s of TCP. Now that I’m not doing as much networking, the name didn’t fit as well. Hence, the new name.

Anyway, I’m excited about my blog’s new incarnation and I hope at least a few of you find it interesting and/or useful. The blog will cover a pretty diverse range of technology topics, because I’ve got a lot of diverse interests.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy.