Oracle Doesn't Want Java EE Any More

Oracle wants someone else to lead enterprise Java, though it says it will stay involved. Apache and Eclipse are likely candidates to take over Java EE

Oracle wants to end its leadership in the development of enterprise Java and is looking for an open source foundation to take on the role. The company said today that the upcoming Java EE (Enterprise Edition) 8 presents an opportunity to rethink how the platform is developed. Although development is done via open source with community participation, the current Oracle-led process is not seen agile, flexible, or open enough. ”We believe that moving Java EE technologies to an open source foundation may be the right next step, to adopt more agile processes, implement more flexible licensing and change the governance process,” Oracle said in a statement.

In the past, James Gosling, considered the father of Java, has urged Oracle to free Java, and he even offered T-shirts urging this move. Oracle plans to explore its desire to offload Java EE with the open source community, licensees, and candidate foundations. Although Oracle has not named possible candidates, the Apache Software Foundation and the Eclipse Foundation are likely possibilities. Oracle has already donated the OpenOffice productivity suite and the NetBeans IDE to Apache, and the Hudson integration server to Eclipse. Like Java, all three technologies—OpenOffice, NetBeans, and Hudson—were acquired in Oracle’s 2010 acquisition of Sun Microsystems.

Eclipse is ready to take on Java EE if chosen. “We believe that moving Java EE to a vendor-neutral open source foundation would be great for both the platform and the community,” said Eclipse Executive Director Mike Milinkovich. “If asked to so, the Eclipse Foundation would be pleased to serve as the host organization.” Last year, Oracle was under fire in the Java EE community for a perceived disinterest and retreat from Java EE, leading multiple groups to propose tackling Java EE development on their own. Oracle responded with a plan to retool Java EE for modern cloud and microservices deployments, with this year’s Java EE 8 release and next year’s planned Java EE 9 release. A reference implementation of Java EE 8 is expected later this summer...