Red Hat announced that it is joining the OpenJDK project. As summarized by LinuxWorld:
Red Hat also has licensed the OpenJDK Community Test Compatibility Kit (TCK), which allows Red Hat to build an implementation of OpenJDK and test it to ensure its compatible with the implementation the project itself develops, he said. The Java SE JDK, the basis for OpenJDK, includes the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) as well as tools for developing Java applets and applications; it is the software that is the basis for desktop Java applications.
These agreement should allow Red Hat to create a fully compatible open-source JDK (Java Development Kit) for Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Red Hat started the related IcedTea project earlier this year. It is currently working to make the OpenJDK usable without requiring any other software that is not free software. This would make it possible to add the OpenJDK to most Linux distributions. IcedTea replaces encumbered code with equivalent GNU Classpath code.
Sun's Mark Reinhold speculates on the future results of the announcement:
- The best ideas from IcedTea proposed for integration into the main JDK code bases;
- A fully-compatible, JCK-tested JDK 6 implementation in Fedora and then Red Hat Enterprise Linux; and, of course,
- Red Hat engineers voted in as full Members of the OpenJDK Community.