看来传闻中的GPL成为现实。来自国际先驱论坛报IHT的报道：
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/11/13/business/web.1113sun.php以下援引美联社的新闻稿：
Sun releases Java as open-source project
SAN
FRANCISCO: Computer server and software maker Sun Microsystems said
Monday that it had begun to make its Java technology an open-source
software project available for free on the Internet.
The announcement represents one of the largest additions of computer
code to the open-source community - and it marks a major shift for a
company that had once fiercely protected the source code used in 3.8
billion cell phones, supercomputers, medical devices and other gadgets.
Santa Clara-based Sun said it is making nearly all of Java's source
code - excluding small pockets of code that are not owned by Sun -
available under the GNU General Public License. The same type of
license also covers the distribution of the core, or kernel, of the
popular open-source operating system Linux, which competes against
Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system.
Making Java an open-source project allows programmers from around
the world to examine, modify, fix bugs and contribute new features in
Java's underlying code. It requires that any changes be made public.
Sun, a formerly high-flying dot-com that has lost billions of
dollars since the stock market collapse of 2000, has hitched its
rebound strategy in part to the growing open source movement.
Rich Green, Sun's executive vice president of software, said the
company hopes to turn more developers into Java programmers, who may
then create additional software to support Sun products.
"The open-sourcing of this really means more - more richness of
offerings, more capability, more applications that consumers will get
to use," Green said. "The platform itself will become a place for
innovation."
All the Java source code is expected to be released by March 2007,
Green said. The move covers all Java technology, which includes
software that runs on handheld devices, personal computers and servers.
Analysts said the decision would likely extend the life of Java,
which was released more than a decade ago, and boost business for the
company.
"Sun profits from the Java ecosystem thriving," said Michael Cote,
an analyst with RedMonk. "Whether it's their hardware sales or their
service sales, by open-sourcing Java they're hoping to ensure its
longer life and ensure it's what the community wants it to be."