Will you continue to use Sun projects ?
A few days ago the EU had approved the takeover of Sun microsystems by Oracle. This brings to an end the long awaited acquisition. There have been several blog entries about the fate of the open source projects that Sun currently supports. I have read some of the arguments put forward about why developers should move away from / use certain projects.
However I also find myself in a dilemma. I installed GlassFish and deployed a few apps on it recently. I found it interesting and was impressed with it within a few minutes of using it. MySql is also a great open source project. There are many tools built around the database and it competes well with PostGresql. Netbeans is also a great IDE and supports glassfish.
I am very tempted to continue using these projects for the development of new pet projects and to learn new specs. Right now I expect the support for these projects to continue for a few years, and I do not really expect to see great innovation of any sort. The best case scenario is that Oracle leverages the usefulness of these projects and decides to keep them alive while giving them healthy financial support. One is allowed to dream 
So it boils down to the following question. “Will you as a developer / architect / <Insert technical position here> continue to use projects like GlassFish, Netbeans, MySql etc ?” Or are you looking to move away to other open source projects immediately ? Voice your thoughts through this poll
Will you continue to use Sun projects like Glassfish / Netbeans etc ?
- Yes I will still use them for current and future projects (78%, 318 Votes)
- I use these for current projects but will not for future ones (11%, 44 Votes)
- I never used them to begin with (7%, 29 Votes)
- No. I will migrate existing projects to other vendors. Will not use them for future projects (4%, 17 Votes)
Total Voters: 407
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Why would you not? Not a rhetorical question.
@Alexis MP
Support for these open source projects is a question on everyone’s lips. They are great, no doubt and people love to use them. But how long the support will last and what further developments will come out of them after the acquisition is an uncertainty.
I read a few comments here and there about developers wanting to move to other open source projects. I on the other hand am thinking the opposite. I want to try out the new glassfish V3 for EE 6 because it looks cool so far. I am trying to find out if there is apprehension out there if any about current / future adoption of these projects.
Look here for some information on the positive future of Sun products at Oracle:
http://regmedia.co.uk/2009/10/30/oracle_statement_sun_software.pdf
This Wednesday (Jan 27 2010), Oracle will be hosting a five hour live webinar detailing the Sun + Oracle strategy. Sign up here:
http://www.oracle.com/webapps/events/EventsDetail.jsp?p_eventId=108481
Thanks for your answer. I think we’re all missing data about the future of these projects. Me included.
I hope Oracle continues to develop these assets, especially NetBeans and GlassFish. I’ve recently been looking at JEE development comparing NetBeans and JBoss, and I’ve been amazed at the capabilites of NetBeans 6.8. I really feel this is the closest Java has been to Microsoft– ever! (Dev Studio makes development work so easy. NetBeans 6.8 is the closest I’ve seen in the Java workspace.)
Yet Oracle has their own JEE frameworks and toolset. Let’s see what they do…..
Happy Coding,
Rick
@Ryan de Laplante
Thanks for the registration link. I did read the statement about sun software offered by Oracle.
@Alexis MP
No problem
@Rick
I hope they continue to support these projects too. It would be interesting to see what they do with the existing solutions and the acquired ones.
I’ll use if they are going to be supported in the future. There is no choice in the poll for this
@Tahir Emre
Oracle has promised continued support. The PDF which Ryan has linked to mentions this. How long this support will last and how much development effort will come out of it is an open question.
It must be a tough question for Oracle too since they now have different projects which offer solutions along the same lines. Netbeans / Jdeveloper, Glassfish / Weblogic, Mysql / Oracle etc etc.
I hope Oracle continues providing support for these amazing open source projects. It’s true we know the value of things when we are on the verge to lose them.