Sun adds Linux support to Java tools

Sun Microsystems has added further Linux support to its Java development environment.

At the Linuxworld tradeshow in New York this week, the company announced the immediate availability of Java 2 Platform Micro Edition (J2ME), Connected Device Configuration (CDC) and Foundation profile for Linux.

Richard Green, vice president of Java software at Sun's software systems group, said: "Now, with the availability of J2ME technologies on Linux, Java technology developers worldwide can support a whole series of intelligent, next-generation services on today's modern clients."

CDC is used to develop embedded Java applications for devices such as set-top boxes, in-car computers and home servers that link computers and consumer electronic devices to the internet.

Sun also plans to extend its distributed resource management (DRM) software, Grid Engine 5.2, to the Linux platform. DRM software is designed to tie together idle computer resources, match them to individual job requirements and deliver network-wide computing power to the desktop.

Dan Kusnetzky, an analyst at researcher IDC, said: "Linux and other open source software has been an accepted part of technical and high performance computing for quite some time. Sun's Grid Engine software could certainly add value when implementing heterogeneous distributed computing environments and is a welcome addition."

Sun also pledged to support the open source Gnome graphical user interface and showed off kiosks based on the Java framework.