Sun’s Java VM no good for embedded market, HP says

San Francisco (04/09/98) — Contrary to published reports, Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) remains vehemently opposed to the standards process Sun Microsystems Inc. uses to develop its Java technology for embedded systems, an HP official said today.

In addition, HP can offer no guarantee that the Java virtual machine (JVM) for embedded systems it began shipping recently, will be compatible with Sun’s forthcoming EmbeddedJava version, said Byron Rono, director of marketing for Hewlett-Packard’s embedded software division.

A JVM is software that must be installed in a product in order for it to be able to read Java code. Sun developed the EmbeddedJava specification, which it licenses to manufacturers for use in their products, through a standards process endorsed by the International Standards Organization (ISO).

But last month HP began selling its own JVM, which it said contains no Sun technology at all. HP did so in part because it was unhappy with Sun’s licensing fees, and also because it feels the standards process Sun uses gives Sun too much control over the development of the technology.

The disagreement between the companies is viewed as a significant one because if HP’s JVM is not compatible with Sun’s product, which is due later this year, it could disrupt Java’s fabled write-once, run-anywhere capabilities.

Makers of embedded systems, a broad term encompassing things like smart cards, medical instruments, and printers, have specific requirements from a JVM, and the process Sun uses to define its technology is not satisfactory to meet those requirements, Rono said.

For example, a maker of smart cards will likely have different memory requirements than, say, a manufacturer of printers, which can generally accommodate a larger memory footprint, Rono said.

Sun should allow companies to make changes to the technology they license, in order to develop a JVM that suits their needs, Rono said. “We have to be able to subset for those embedded device categories that have special requirements,” he said.

Sun is adamantly opposed to subsetting, and one of the key stipulations to Java licensees is that they implement the full specification laid out by Sun in order to ensure that all Java programs will run on all JVMs — in other words, to guarantee the write-once, run-anywhere Java promise.

After a temporary impasse when HP released its JVM, the companies have resumed discussions over Sun’s standards process. But contrary to press reports, HP is not backing away from its opposition to Sun’s standards process, and has not agreed with Sun to make its JVMs compatible, Rono said.

“If it doesn’t make sense because it doesn’t meet the market’s needs, then it doesn’t make sense for us” to make HP’s JVM compatible with Sun’s, Rono said.

Sun officials declined to comment on the discussions, saying only that standards are one aspect of the talks.

However, a Sun spokeswoman acknowledged that there are “some issues to be addressed” with the embedded JVM. A spokesperson from the company’s embedded systems group was not available for comment.

In the meantime, HP has not altered its mission to market aggressively its JVM against Sun’s. The company has so far announced only one licensee — Microsoft Corp. — but Rono suggested there are others in the wings. “Other companies in this space are interested in what we have to offer. There’s no shortage of manufacturers of embedded devices,” Rono said.