Open letters and open source

When it comes to open source software, anything not open is suspect. The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) has taken what had been a private tussle with Sun very public.

The fuss is all about IP restrictions in the Java SE Test Compatibility Kit (TCK, or JCK), and ASF's struggle to get its Harmony project certified JCP-compatible. So ASF says. Sun says they're trying really hard to grease every squeaky wheel, but there are a lot of 'em out there squeaking. At least that's their preliminary thought, which they are happy to share with the Java development community.

It's a sign of the times how everybody wants to be so very open about this. ASF publishes an open letter to Sun, as well as a FAQ. Here we learn that when you publish an open letter to a CEO, you must now also publish a public FAQ explaining the background to the letter. And Sun posted its reaction to ASF's open letter in a blog called On the Record, where they go on the record about being open about what they characterize as a private matter. Everyone is committed to being very, very open.

Nevertheless, open letters and public responses are often ways for parties to a dispute to talk past one another, and both ASF's open letter and Sun's blog posting contain phrasing that seems less than conciliatory.

The meaning of openness is clearly open to interpretation.

Posted by Mike Swaine at 02:23 PM  Permalink