Apache Harmony
Apache Harmony was a project of the Apache Software Foundation to develop with the goal of an open- source version of Java technology. It was beginning of May 2005 and was announced lively discussion among Java developers. With the disclosure of Sun's official Java implementations of the technology under the GNU General Public License from 2006 OpenJDK was a need for the development of Harmony no longer in the initial form. After the acquisition of Sun Microsystems by Oracle in January 2010, and the elimination of IBM as the active support of partner Harmony in October 2010, in early November 2011 it was decided to finish the project.
History
Reasons for the new development
The main reasons for disagreements between GNU Classpath and Apache projects are due to differences between the General Public License ( GNU Classpath also contains a GPL linking exception ) and the Apache license due. These discrepancies appear to be mainly caused by different software companies who prefer the slightly more liberal Apache license, which also enables the development of non-free products. GNU can also be tied with proprietary code, but legally it is difficult to derive the non-free products of GNU Classpath itself. However, my many software developers that the licenses and philosophy of these communities are not so different that a separation would have been necessary from each other and the inability to reach a compromise is often seen negatively.
Initiation
The Harmony project was originally conceived as an attempt to unite all the developers of free implementations of the Java programming language. Many software developers expected that there would be a project in excess of GNU, Apache and other communities. GNU developers were invited and participated in the initial, preparatory planning. However, it was later decided not to use a code from the GNU Classpath and instead to write the required classes from scratch and hope for great source donations of software companies.
Last stage of development
The expected code contributions of software companies were received in the course of time. Apache Harmony containing executable code, including Swing, AWT and Java2D, which were contributed by Intel. The share classes was implemented last more than 99 % (as of November 2008). Apache Harmony was born on October 29, 2006 officially recognized as a full Apache project.
End of the project
After the acquisition of Sun Microsystems by Oracle, as well as a lawsuit against Google over the Dalvik Java implementation, in 2010, an uncertainty has come in the Java environment. Sun and Oracle, the new owner refused to Harmony access to the test system (Java SE TCK) to provide for certification. IBM had given up the active support of Harmony in October 2010 and will instead engage in collaboration with Oracle on OpenJDK.
By a vote of Project management in early November 2011 it was decided to finish the project. The Last Stand was moved to the so-called " Attic" where can still be accessed.
Development team
Apache Harmony was, as opposed to GNU Classpath, which is being developed by many different employees, mainly developed by various companies. It got great source donation at a time and most of the source code changes between versions are not easily recognizable. This was more akin to a consortium of companies as a joint project. Nevertheless, the general discussions on the mailing lists are free for everyone.