Sun opens Jini spec for review

September 25, 1998 — Sun Microsystems Inc. has unveiled a draft of a public license for its Jini technology that the company hopes will promote innovation among developers while assuring the technology remains uniform.

The draft, released late last week, is an attempt to satisfy both the need to spread the Jini source code to a universe of developers while keeping the technology consistent, according to a Sun official.

Sun’s Jini project is a broad plan to use core technologies based on the Java programming language as building blocks for large network systems.

Unlike traditional licenses that offer free source code with few strings attached known as open sourcing, the Jini license proposed by Sun attaches certain compatibility requirements and commercial use terms, according to the draft.

“Our view is that we are making Jini available to people and this provides them rights to use the technology but also (entails) certain responsibilities,” said Bill Joy, Sun co-founder and chief architect of Jini in a recent interview. “Those responsibilities are to be compatible and obey the terms of the license.”

Sun will offer a multilevel license depending upon how a licensee would like to use the Jini technology. At the highest level is the Commercial Distribution license designed for developers who plan to sell Jini-related products, according to the draft. The commercial tier requires that a developer’s code meets Jini compatibility tests and that the developer executes a trademark license.

The other tiers, which have fewer restrictions, include one tailored to organizations using Jini internally and another for researchers experimenting with different implementations of Jini, the draft said.

Sun, meanwhile, retains intellectual property rights over the technology. The compatibility tests will administered by Sun, the draft said.

The Jini license appears to mark a middle ground between fully opening up the technology and the current licensing scheme Sun uses for the Java programming language, on which Jini is based.

Sun has been criticized for keeping what some critics say is an overly tight control over Java.

Joy said Sun is working on ways to bring Java closer to an open sourcing model but it will take time.

“We are considering ways of making Java more available,” Joy said. He explained however there are two difficulties involved in doing that. One is that Sun has about 200 Java licenses which “limits our ability to make changes,” and the company is also locked into a legal battle with Microsoft over the terms of the software giant’s Java license.

“We’re studying how to move in this direction (open sourcing) with Java and that’s going to take us a little longer time because of all of the existing agreements,” Joy said.