JavaOne's a good show that's small but popular with the right people. Google's been a part of it for many years but not this year, thanks to Oracle.

Google has announced that it's pulling out of the show because of Oracle's law suit over intellectual property used by Android. Joshua Bloch from Google's Open Source Programs Office, a man many regular attendees will be familiar with, explained why.

"Oracle's recent lawsuit against Google and open source has made it impossible for us to freely share our thoughts about the future of Java and open source generally," he wrote.

"This is a painful realization for us, as we've participated in every JavaOne since 2004, and I personally have spoken at all but the first in 1996."

The move is going to intensify the bad feeling in the open source community about Oracle, indeed Sleuth thinks it's calculated to do exactly that. The open source movement, when properly roused, can be a fearsome force - SCO found that out - and Oracle may be in for a rough ride.
 
After the debacle of this week's OpenSolaris board voting themselves into extinction and Oracle's speedy commercialisation of Sun many in the open source community are now calling Larry Ellison the open source enemy number one.
 
Google's move is adding fuel to the flames, but is it going to be enough to force a change from Larry Ellison? Sleuth has serious doubts.

27 Aug 2010