Dive Brief:
- Oracle is considering turning Java Enterprise Edition over to an open source foundation "to make it more agile and responsive to changing industry and technology demands," according to a blog by David Delabassee, software evangelist at Oracle. Oracle plans to release Java EE 8 at the JavaOne 2017 conference later this year.
- Moving to open source could help Oracle "adopt more agile processes, implement more flexible licensing and change the governance process," Delabassee said.
- Java EE is a collection of APIs designed to help developers create enterprise-scale applications. It is already managed in a semi-open-source manner.
Dive Insight:
It’s another step away from Java for the software giant. Like just about everyone else, Oracle has steadily moved toward cloud-based solutions in recent years. The company may have built an empire on its database software, but now it needs to focus on a tech landscape that increasingly relies on cloud-based software and subscription models.
Oracle may be backing away, but Java is still the most in-demand programming language, according to a survey by job site Indeed.com, far ahead of other programming languages found in the enterprise.
But turning Java EE over to an open source organization could increase innovation with the language. Doing so would also allow Oracle to focus on collaboration to help advance technological innovation in Java rather than leading the project.
