Oracle to 'revitalise' the Java Community Process

Oracle has announced the creation of JCP.next JSR 1 (JSR 348), a Java Specification Request that "proposes a variety of changes and adjustments to the Java Community Process". JCP.next JSR 1 is, says Oracle, the first of two new JSRs which are designed to "update and revitalise the JCP". The new JCP.next documents will go through the existing JCP processes. Patrick Curran, chair of the JCP, and Oracle will lead the process as "specification leads" with an expert group including AT&T, the Eclipse Foundation, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Google, HP, IBM, Intel, Nokia, Red Hat, RIM, Samsung, SAP, Siemens, SpringSource, T-Mobile and Vodafone, along with some user groups and individuals.

The group will produce a new version of the JCP Process document which is expected to require all expert groups to operate in public forums with increased transparency when recruiting members, to expand executive committee participation to all JCP members and rework how compatibility test results are managed to ensure that they are disclosed. Curran has been asking for change within the JCP for some time; when he talked to The H in 2009, he mentioned how he would like to institute many of the changes. Oracle expects the JCP.next JSR 1 to be developed and approved within six months.

Oracle also expects to submit JCP.next JSR 2 soon which will involve modifications to the Java Specification Participation Agreement (JSPA), which defines the terms by which JCP members participate in creating JSRs. The JSPA was at the heart of the Apache Software Foundation's dispute with the JCP which led to them resigning last December. The ASF believes that the action taken by Oracle (and previously Sun) in denying them a Technology Compatibility Kit (TCK) was a violation of that agreement. Oracle say JCP.next JSR 2 is expected to take twelve to eighteen months to develop and approve, but offer no indication of what modifications they expect to be made to the JSPA.

(djwm)