SD Times: Inside the Java Community Process

Image by Obie Fernandez via Flickr

I just finished reading an article in SD Times June 2011 edition about "Inside the Java Community Process" which details how the JCP works, and its membership. There are some errors and omissions which could have been resolved with a little fact checking. Especially since the material is public.

Becoming a JCP Member details how to become a member. The article mentions educational, governmental, and non-profits must pay $2,000.00 USD per year to become members. However, there is an exception for Java User Groups. Java User Groups can participate for FREE. The details are Java User Groups get free first row seats in the JCP!. This was a serious omission since, we (Java Users Groups) have two seats on the Java Standard Edition (SE) Executive Committee (EC), and the article refers to this later. Any JUG can participate in the JCP and a representative can be elected, or ratified to a seat on the EC.

The author also failed to look at the voting results which clearly show that SouJava and London Java Community (LJC) were elected, and not Central Ohio Java Users Group. I hope in future elections to see dedicated Java Users Groups like Central Ohio Java Users Group to get a seat, but this was not the case for the special elections. Congratulations to both SouJava and London Java Community on their election by the JCP community.

I like the SD Times, but this is basic journalism to check facts, and be clear.

Related articles

• JCP Elections 26 April - 09 May 2011 (javaevangelist.blogspot.com)
• JCP - A Question of Validity (javaevangelist.blogspot.com)
• JSR 348: Towards a new version of the Java Community Process (jcp.org)

JCP Elections 26 April - 09 May 2011

Image by Obie Fernandez via Flickr

The JCP is holding elections for the open Executive Committee seats. This includes ratified seats, and openly elected seats. If you are a JCP member, or would like to vote (you must join JCP to vote), please do so. It is so important for the community to make sure that it is adequately represented. In order for the JCP to function, we need dedicated individuals who can rise above the current tumult, and deliver a positive message. We need focus to be on the Java Community Process, and not on political infighting.

As a JCP member, I have cast my ballot. Have you?

Oracle's nominations for the two open ratified seats on the SE/EE Executive Committee are:

• The Brazilian Java User Group SouJava, represented by Bruno Souza
• Goldman Sachs, represented by John Weir

The nominees for the open elected seats on the Executive Committee are:

• Alex Terrazas - ME
• Central Ohio Java Users Group - SE/EE
• George Gastaldi - SE/EE
• Siddique Hameed - SE/EE
• Liferay, Inc. - SE/EE
• London Java Community - SE/EE

I would like to encourage all voting members to ratify Bruno Souza (Representing SouJava). Bruno has been the face of the Java community for many years. He is internationally recognized, and truly represents the heart of the Java community.

The other elected seats include two Java Users Groups: Central Ohio Users Group and London Java Community. I would encourage all voting members to vote for the Java User Groups (JUG) community membership. These groups represent the diversity of the JUG community, and have community interests rather than corporate interests at their heart.

Dan Sline represents the Central Ohio Users Group and I would encourage JCP members to consider him. Otherwise, please consider voting for the London Java Community. It is vitally important to support the communities that are here to serve you.

Java EE: The dead man walking... I'm not Dead Yet!

N49 Stellar Debris

I just read Andrew Binstock's Integration Watch column with the same title as this post. The majority of the article is interesting, and tells a little history about Java Enterprise Edition (EE) over the years. He makes a comment that was very well put about Spring.

...Spring is an omnibus solution that rides on the entire Java EE stack, it does not reduce the complexity so much as mask it.

A very well put quote. I am a more casual Spring user than advocate. I think it fills in nicely where the gaps lay for me in the EE specification. I believe that we should use tools to solve problems, and this is one such tool. I think that the quote sums up our need for Spring because the specification is lacking.

His follow-on comments on the status of Java EE 6 implementations is correct about the number, but he misses the point that there are a number of folks who are working on implementations. Weblogic should be EE 6 compliant this year.  Caucho is working on a web profile compliant version, and the others will follow. They must, or will be left behind. The nice thing about specifications is that it keeps moving the bar.

The tone seems to indicate that GlassFish does not seem capable of enterprise adoption, and that we must wait for the "big" boys to come and play. This is simply not the case. GlassFish 3.0.1 is a fine solution, and most developers would suffice with the web profile as he previously noted with Apache Tomcat. If you need enterprise robustness, GlassFish 3.1 should be available in the next few months. I just checked the timeline and needs to be updated. I will just leave it at that. I have 3.1 build 38 running, and it works just fine.

I disagree with Alex Handy that Java EE is no longer the future of enterprise Java. We are not on the cusp, and this is not an end. GlassFish is innovation. Oracle has been very excited about the modularization. This has made it easier for them to incorporate in their flagship products. Innovation is clearly apparent in the number of other platforms which include the various GlassFish modules in their products.

The demise of dynamic language enthusiasm is real, but GlassFish will continue to support running these VM languages as first class citizens. My Redmine (RoR) instance on JRuby clearly demonstrates this.

The IOUC/JUG Leaders Summit at Oracle had a number of talks about the future of EE and its direction. The direction from Oracle was actually very open for EE 8. They have a number of items for EE 7 that they would like to see, and will provide JSRs for them. There is a general JSR clean-up effort on the part of Oracle. They want to deliver innovation and a path forward, but would like to finish, or close the open JSR promises to the community. That was very apparent to me.

Oracle will provide its plans on EE 7 sooner than later, and I don't want to preempt them in anyway. I would note that they are sensitive to the cloud computing environment. We discussed Amazon's Beanstalk service, and some of us expressed a desire to see GlassFish EE 6 as an option. I think that would be a win-win for both companies. We encouraged the Oracle staff present to consider it. This is not tantamount to some announcement, but a desire by those present in the room.

Andrew was correct on the path forward must include cloud computing, but we are not a dead man walking. His reference to monolithic application servers is actually old school. GlassFish is modular, and will continue towards becoming more modular along with Java SE including JSR-294.

My response to Andrew's article is simply a piece from Monty Python:

The Dead Collector: Bring out yer dead.
[a man puts a body on the cart]
Large Man with Dead Body: Here's one.
The Dead Collector: That'll be ninepence.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm not dead.
The Dead Collector: What?
Large Man with Dead Body: Nothing. There's your ninepence.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm not dead.
The Dead Collector: 'Ere, he says he's not dead.
Large Man with Dead Body: Yes he is.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm not.
The Dead Collector: He isn't.
Large Man with Dead Body: Well, he will be soon, he's very ill.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm getting better.
Large Man with Dead Body: No you're not, you'll be stone dead in a moment.

I just hope I don't get hit with a club.

Related articles

• New JBoss puts Java EE 6 to work (infoworld.com)
• Oracle to Present on Java in the Cloud at Cloud Expo 2011 New York (java.sys-con.com)
• New JBoss Puts Java EE 6 to Work (pcworld.com)
• Elastic Beanstalk (nighthacks.com)
• NetBeans 7.0 IDE due this spring (infoworld.com)

JCP - A Question of Validity

At the recent IOUC / JUG Leaders Summit I attended this week, it was announced that Sou Java's Bruno Souza is being nominated to fill the open JCP Executive Committee (EC) position vacated by the Apache Foundation. Although there is not way to fill the void filled by the loss of Apache on the JCP, Bruno's nomination is a good replacement. I hope and encourage all other JCP members to follow me and ratify his position in the upcoming special election.

Patrick Curran posted in his blog The Fine Print - For Your Eyes Only that there are a number of negative perceptions about the JCP. I couldn't agree more. I have added some comments to his post which I hope he will approve soon. I believe that the only way to fix the majority of these negative perceptions is through change. Bruno is the start of that change.

When I spoke to Patrick at the conference, he convinced me that we (JUG Leaders, and community members) can make a difference. We spoke about the transparency which he wrote very eloquently about in his blog post, and how to effect change in the JCP.

I will tell the same story here which I added as comments to Patrick's blog post. I always tell my kids that unless you ask, the answer is always "no". If you want to make a change you must be willing to ask, you may be surprised that in a lot of cases, the answer will be a "yes".

I personally am sick and tired about hearing how broken the JCP is. The JCP EC is comprised of 15 seats. Ten of the seats are nominated by Oracle and ratified by the JCP members. The remaining five seats are openly elected seats. Here is my proposal: JUGs should fill those seats via the election process, unless a qualified individual from the community nominates themselves.  This will ensure that the Java community is well represented at the JCP EC table.

I want to be very clear that individuals from the community should be given priority over JUG communities per se. I don't want the JUG Leaders and JUGs accused of being just another set of large organizations vying for positions. It is my intent to protect those openly elected seats for members of the community, or JUGs for safekeeping if no other qualified individuals step forward.

I believe that with 1/3 of the voting block in control of the community, we can make the changes necessary to bring further transparency, and legitimacy to the JCP.

Do not get me wrong, I believe that the loss of Apache Foundation and Doug Lea are terrible for the Java ecosystem. I want Apache back on the EC, but I understand their position. I want to make the changes necessary to the JCP to have them back at the table. I would be the first person to pull out a chair for them. Until that time, it is up to us to make the difference.

I will propose that the JUG Leaders take a look at my post, and we as a community can decide on how to proceed. I am willing to nominate myself for the elected position in the upcoming election, but would readily concede to another candidate that represents the community like Bruno. I just want to make sure that we do not miss out on the opportunity that presents itself before us.

Any JUG, or individual who is not a member of the JCP is encouraged to join and be a part of the solution. I see opportunity, and think it could be an exciting time to be a part of something that matters. If you are reading this blog post and have gotten this far, you need to be a participant otherwise the answer will be... "no".