[ale] Fwd: Google and Oracle battle over the future of Android

Thu Apr 19 12:00:45 EDT 2012

Google is heavy into python. I wonder if they could use python where they
would normally use java and then put in an interpreter that would allow
older apps to still run. May be way off base here so feel free to point and
laugh.

On Thu, Apr 19, 2012 at 11:30 AM, Jim Kinney <jim.kinney at gmail.com> wrote:

> More reasons to never use a language "owned" by a company and not a
> foundation.
>
> Having said that, I'm not sure I can adequately explain my thinking on the
> difference between a company and a foundation. It really more of an
> altruistic intent as a dividing line between the two in my mind; something
> created to solve a problem vs. something created to create a revenue
> stream. Not that either is exclusive of the other but the original intent
> seems to take dominance over time.
>
> Besides, starbucks can't make good java so why does oracle think they can
> do any better?
>
> On Thu, Apr 19, 2012 at 10:43 AM, Ron Frazier (ALE) <
> atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com> wrote:
>
>> **
>> Hi all,
>>
>> This is from the AJUG group.  I thought you guys might like to see it.  I
>> hope Oracle doesn't kill the market for Java since I'm about to get serious
>> about learning it.
>>
>> Apologies for the HTML nature of the message if that causes anyone
>> problems.  That's the way it came into my mailbox.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> Ron
>>
>>
>> -------- Original Message --------  Subject: [ajug-members] Google and
>> Oracle battle over the future of Android  Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2012
>> 15:55:49 +0000  From: Gabsaga Tata <gabsaga.tata at simpaq.com><gabsaga.tata at simpaq.com>  Reply-To:
>> ajug-members at ajug.org  To: ajug-members at ajug.org
>>
>>
>>
>>   http://money.cnn.com/2012/04/16/technology/google-oracle/index.htm
>>
>>  Google and Oracle battle over the future of Android
>> By David Goldman <david.goldman at turner.com> @CNNMoneyTech<https://twitter.com/intent/user?screen_name=cnnmoneytech>April
>> 17, 2012: 3:49 PM ET
>>  [image: Google CEO Larry Page (left) and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison will
>> testify against one another in the coming weeks.]
>> Google CEO Larry Page (left) and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison will testify
>> against one another in the coming weeks.
>>  NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- A landmark court battle between Google and
>> Oracle has begun -- and its result will shape the future of the Android
>> ecosystem fueling most of the world's smartphones.
>> Silicon Valley's power players are always in the throes of nasty patent
>> fights against each other<http://us.mg4.mail.yahoo.com/2011/08/18/technology/patent_bubble/index.htm>,
>> but this one is especially potent. Oracle claims that Google's Android
>> violates two patents plus several copyrights that Oracle holds on its Java
>> software, a ubiquitous programming language powering everything from phones
>> to websites.
>>
>>  Although both Java and Android are open-source platforms<http://us.mg4.mail.yahoo.com/2010/08/13/technology/oracle_android/index.htm>-- neither Google (
>> GOOG<http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=GOOG&source=story_quote_link>,
>> Fortune 500<http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2011/snapshots/11207.html?source=story_f500_link>)
>> nor Oracle (ORCL<http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=ORCL&source=story_quote_link>,
>> Fortune 500<http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2011/snapshots/3057.html?source=story_f500_link>)
>> generally charge for their use -- their licensing terms are complex and
>> precise. When Java creator Sun Microsystems (acquired by Oracle<http://us.mg4.mail.yahoo.com/2009/04/20/technology/Oracle_Sun/index.htm>in 2010) set Java loose as open-source software, it left significant limits
>> in place around the mobile version.
>> Companies building on top of Java's mobile platform typically pay to
>> license it. Google used an elaborate workaround and essentially built
>> its own version<http://www.betaversion.org/%7Estefano/linotype/news/110/>of a key system to avoid those licensing fees and restrictions.
>> Oracle cried foul and hauled Google off to court -- a move some expected
>> from the moment it agreed to buy Sun.
>> "During the integration meetings between Sun and Oracle where we were
>> being grilled about the patent situation between Sun and Google, we could
>> see the Oracle lawyer's eyes sparkle," James Gosling, one of Java's
>> original architects, wrote on his blog<http://nighthacks.com/roller/jag/entry/the_shit_finally_hits_the>the day the lawsuit was announced.
>> After 20 months of prep work and a blizzard of court documents, the trial
>> between the two tech titans kicked off Monday in San Francisco.
>> Google insists its approach to building Android -- now the most popular
>> smartphone platform in the world<http://us.mg4.mail.yahoo.com/2011/03/07/technology/android/index.htm>-- did not infringe either Java's rules or Oracle's patents, and it thinks
>> Oracle's copyright claims are a sham. It called Oracle's arguments "a
>> classic attempt to improperly assert copyright over an idea rather than
>> expression."
>> But Oracle thinks it's got a smoking gun: An e-mail sent from Google
>> engineer Tim Lindholm to Android chief Andy Rubin just days before Oracle
>> filed its suit. Warned in advance by Oracle that it believed Google was
>> infringing its patents, Google asked Lindholm to investigate its options.
>> He didn't like any of them.
>> "What we've actually been asked to do [by CEO Larry Page and co-founder
>> Sergey Brin] is to investigate what technical alternatives exist to Java
>> for Android and Chrome," Lindholm wrote. "We've been over a bunch of these,
>> and think they all suck. We conclude that we need to negotiate a license
>> for Java under the terms we need."
>> Google fought to keep that e-mail out of bounds<http://www.groklaw.net/articlebasic.php?story=20120206194613886>,
>> but lost.
>> 0:00/3:33Patent baron Myhrvold defends the system
>> If its lawsuit is successful, Oracle could force Google to pay it tens of
>> millions of dollars in retroactive licensing fees and potentially hundreds
>> of millions more in the future.
>> But this isn't simply a damages case. Oracle already makes plenty of
>> money. Adding to its stash would be a nice perk, but it's not the main
>> motive for its legal crusade.
>> Oracle is picking a fight with Google because it feels that Android is
>> threatening the Java platform it got as part of its blockbuster $7.4
>> billion Sun purchase. Android may be an off-shoot of Java, but its
>> interface and functionality is unique. Code written for Java is not
>> inherently compatible with Android -- and as Android grows, its version of
>> Java threatens to become the dominant one.
>> Oracle doesn't want to kill Android, but it wants to force Google to play
>> by its rules and make Android compatible with the rest of Java.
>> That would be extremely difficult for Google and the Android community.
>> Each of the nearly 500,000 Android apps out there would have to be
>> rewritten or tweaked.
>> But for Oracle, it would be a coup. Developers would be able to write
>> apps around Java's programming interfaces that would also run seamlessly on
>> Android devices.
>> "That would transcend whatever Google ultimately could pay Oracle," says
>> Florian Mueller, an independent intellectual property analyst and
>> consultant.
>> New technologies like HTML5 are already making Java less important on the
>> Web. Oracle wants to make sure it doesn't lose the rapidly growing mobile
>> market as well.
>> Whatever the outcome, don't expect a big decision any time soon.
>> With so much at stake, experts like Mueller think that this case will get
>> stuck in the courts for years. The two sides -- neither known for backing
>> away from a fight -- will most likely battle and appeal their way straight
>> up to the Supreme Court. [image: To top of page]<http://us.mg4.mail.yahoo.com/neo/#TOP>
>> First Published: April 17, 2012: 2:36 PM ET
>>
>>
>>  __._,_.___
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> (To whom it may concern.  My email address has changed.  Replying to former
>> messages prior to 03/31/12 with my personal address will go to the wrong
>> address.  Please send all personal correspondence to the new address.)
>>
>> (PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
>> call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
>> mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new messages very quickly.)
>>
>> Ron Frazier
>> 770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
>> linuxdude AT techstarship.com
>>
>>
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>>
>
>
> --
> --
> James P. Kinney III
>
> As long as the general population is passive, apathetic, diverted to
> consumerism or hatred of the vulnerable, then the powerful can do as they
> please, and those who survive will be left to contemplate the outcome.
> - *2011 Noam Chomsky
>
> http://heretothereideas.blogspot.com/
> *
>
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-- 
Stephen Haywood
Information Security Consultant
CISSP, GPEN, OSCP
T: @averagesecguy
W: averagesecurityguy.info
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