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Rod Johnson on a mission to open up JCP


By Alex Handy
October 23, 2008 — 
The Java Community Process has long been marked by e-mail lists and password-blocked websites that cater to those working on new JSRs.

But if the JCP's newest executive committee member, Spring creator Rod Johnson, has his way, all of those secretive ways of building standards will be left in the past.

Johnson, whose election to the committee was announced on Tuesday, said that he will bring a healthy dose of paranoia and openness to the body that guides the future of Java.

Patrick Curran, chair of the JCP, has long said that he favors a more open process. He said that the recently completed JSR 311 for JAX-RS was an example of a more open process, and future JSRs may follow this example. But Johnson favors even more drastic acts of openness.

“I know that there's been some discussion in the JCP of moving towards the forum model rather than the mailing lists. I think that would be a positive thing,” said Johnson. “I think forum technology makes it really easy to search, and it does contribute to openness. I would like to see the use of wikis increase. Currently there is a substantial ability for a specification lead to run in the open or completely closed fashion. I think what I'd like to do is try to strive for the default position being as open as possible.”

Johnson also said that he hopes to put a bit of fright into the Java governing body. Some of that fear, he said, should be focused on the remnants of Java's past. “Certainly there's a number of things in the class library that I think should be removed, and I think that's very important in keeping the language fresh," said Johnson. "I think it's very important to bring a healthy degree of paranoia to the discussions. We can't be complacent; we can't let everything grow over time."

That's because there are oodles of other languages out there, he added. If Java doesn't prune the wonky bits, it could get left behind by leaner, meaner languages such as Python and Ruby.

Defending the rubber stamp
That's why Johnson takes issue with Sun's previously held position that the OSGi specification shouldn't have been rubber-stamped into a Java standard by the JCP.

“I completely disagree with that position," said Johnson. "Certainly, I'd be approaching anything like that on a case-by-case basis, but I would have no objection in principle to rubber-stamping technology of merit.

"I think JSR 291 (the OSGi spec) was precisely the right thing to do in that space. I don't see any reason [why] the JCP has to have the monopoly on the creation of intellectual property in Java. I think it was pretty clear that getting a fresh model of convergence between the OSGi Alliance and the JCP is a good thing.”

Curran said Johnson, representing SpringSource, was elected to a ratified seat on the executive committee because Johnson had been such an outspoken critic of the JCP. Johnson's ability to disagree while remaining sympathetic to the other side made him an excellent choice for the position, Curran said.

“I think, going forward, we're excited that the JCP seems to be opening up," said Johnson. "Fundamentally, everyone in Java is on the same side. I think it's important to get into politics because, fundamentally, making the right decisions with Java is about growing the ecosystem.”


Related Search Term(s): Java, JCP, OSGi


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