Please help me understand "Java Open Source Project"

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www - 06 Mar 2007 19:56 GMT

Hi,

I have read that Sun is doing something revolutionary again. It is
moving its Java to open source project.
http://www.sun.com/software/opensource/java/project_overview.jsp

I cannot understand several things. I hope that somebody could help me
understand it better.

First of all, I don't really understand what "Open Source Project" is. I
have heard that many softwares are "Open Source Project". Does that mean
that anybody can join and program it? For Java, can I give my own
favorite class (MySuperUseful.java) to Sun so it will include it in its
new coming version? Or can I modify the current existing class into a
favor I like and Sun will release it in the new version? If everybody
just join and writing some piece of code and give it to Sun, the quality
of Java classes would be questionable? What is really open source project?

Thank you very much.

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Joe Attardi - 06 Mar 2007 21:43 GMT

> First of all, I don't really understand what "Open Source Project" is. I
> have heard that many softwares are "Open Source Project". Does that mean
> that anybody can join and program it?

That's partly. Basically, an open source project is one that makes its
source code available for all. Not everybody can add their changes to
an open source project, however. Typically there is a core group of
developers usually referred to as "committers" who have permission to
submit their changes directly to the source code repository.
Usually, anybody can submit a patch and the core developers decide if
such changes should be incorporated into the project.

> If everybody
> just join and writing some piece of code and give it to Sun, the quality
> of Java classes would be questionable?

As I mentioned above, only certain people are permitted to actually
add code into the "official" source code for a project. They make the
decisions about what is and is not included, and conduct peer code
reviews to make sure the code going in is good.

There are not really any restrictions on what you can do with your
local copy of the code (again, depending on the license), however you
just can't add it to the official source code. You can tinker with the
code on your own machine or produce derivative works (once again,
depending on the license).

I hope this helps!

--
Joe Attardi

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Lew - 07 Mar 2007 04:00 GMT

www wrote:

>> First of all, I don't really understand what "Open Source Project" is. I
>> have heard that many softwares are "Open Source Project". Does that mean
>> that anybody can join and program it?

Strictly speaking, "open source" refers to how the source code is licensed.

-- Lew

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www - 07 Mar 2007 17:39 GMT

> That's partly. Basically, an open source project is one that makes its
> source code available for all. Not everybody can add their changes to
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> Usually, anybody can submit a patch and the core developers decide if
> such changes should be incorporated into the project.

> As I mentioned above, only certain people are permitted to actually
> add code into the "official" source code for a project. They make the
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> --
> Joe Attardi

Thank you very much. I now understand "Open Source Project" better now.

Actually, if I had followed the links in the web page I posted, there
are a lot of information about how to get involved in the project, how
to report bugs etc.

Thank you again.

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Please help me understand "Java Open Source Project"

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