08.13.10
‘Team Microsoft’ Uses Oracle Action Against Google to Promote C#
“As if you could kill a dolphin by swallowing the ocean…”
–Marten Mickos, CEO of MySQL (about Oracle)
Summary: ‘Team Microsoft’ or ‘Team Apologista’ — including Florian Müller — already touts Oracle’s lawsuit against Google as a reason for C# (implicit recommendation)
OH, how predictable. Mono boosters are already using Oracle’s action not to denounce Oracle but to promote C# at Java’s expense. To quote Carlo Daffara, “Miguel de Icaza claims that “The Java specification patent grant patent grant seems to be only valid as long as you have a fully conformant implementation”, but that applies only to the Standard Implementation of Java, not OpenJDK. Sorry Miguel – nice try. More luck next time.” Here are parts of Daffara’s analysis of this case:
On the first point: in the complaint, Oracle claims that “The Android operating system software “stack” consists of Java applications running on a Java-based object-oriented application framework, and core libraries running on a “Dalvik” virtual machine (VM) that features just-in-time (JIT) compilation”. On copyrights, Oracle claims that “Without consent, authorization, approval, or license, Google knowingly, willingly, and unlawfully copied, prepared, published, and distributed Oracle America’s copyrighted work, portions thereof, or derivative works and continues to do so. Google’s Android infringes Oracle America’s copyrights in Java and Google is not licensed to do so … users of Android, including device manufacturers, must obtain and use copyrightable portions of the Java platform or works derived therefrom to manufacture and use functioning Android devices. Such use is not licensed. Google has thus induced, caused, and materially contributed to the infringing acts of others by encouraging, inducing, allowing and assisting others to use, copy, and distribute Oracle America’s copyrightable works, and works derived therefrom.”
[...]
As for patents, a little reminder: patents cover ideas, not implementations (let’s skip for the moment the folly of giving monopoly protection on ideas. You already know how I think about it); so, if in any way Oracle had, now or in the past, given full access to those ideas through a licensing that is transferable, Google is somehow protected there as well. And – guess what? That really happened! Sun released the entire Java JDK under the GPLv2+classpath exception; granting with that release full rights of use and redistribution of the IPR assigned on what was released. This is different from the TCK specification, that Google wisely never licensed; because the TCK license requires for the patents to be transferred to limit the development to enhancements or modifications to the basic JDK as released by Sun.
This case is more complex than it may first seem. We’ll write about it later. Jan Wildeboer from Red Hat told me that “SUN tried to “sell” JDK to Google, didn’t like Dalvik, claims it hurts JAVA. Now Oracle sues.” [...] maybe @webmink [Simon Phipps] knows more. But I am not surprised. Will be painted as “defending” JAVA by Oracle.” Later he pointed out that “The patents in the ORCL v GOOG case are 6,125,447, 6,192,476, 5,966,702, 7,426,720, RE38,104, 6,910,205 and 6,061,520″
Wait for more and more Mono boosters to take advantage of this.
Microsoft apologist Florian Müller (see last week's post, titled “Florian Müller Unofficially Joins Microsoft’s ‘Team Apologista’”) is already promoting C# along with the trolls who harass this Web site “[a]nd the fud goes on” the FFII writes in relation to Müller’s latest bit of FUD (he asks, “is Java less open than C#?”). Well, Müller is bombarding Twitter with at least 3 links to his blog right now, using provocative statements like “Shame on Oracle”, “A lawyer affiliated with the FSF Europe supported #Oracle ‘s takeover of Sun”, and “FFII and FSFE should draw the appropriate conclusions from Oracle’s patent aggression against FOSS.”
He also uses this to attack OIN, saying: “One Open Invention Network licensee (Oracle) sues another (Google) over patents. Another #fail for the OIN.”
We’ll write about this later as more details continue to emerge. █
Jose_X said,
August 13, 2010 at 7:50 am
Shame on Oracle.. unless they are working to help SCOTUS make it easy to rule against software patents.
vexorian said,
August 13, 2010 at 8:04 am
If anything, this is more of a reason to avoid Mono. If Oracle can sue over Java like this after Sun released GPL code and made code there is no reason at all MS can’t do the same regardless of any pretty promise they made.
Time to stick to C/C++, python/ perl / ruby / etc. Not like Java and Mono were used that much by the FOSS community.
Dr. Roy Schestowitz Reply:
August 13th, 2010 at 8:13 am
Yes, that’s what I wrote a little while back, especially because Novell upsets Sun’s portfolio (now Oracle’s) in several ways. Let’s see if Oracle also sends Go-OO into the bit bucket.