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Oracle sues Google over use of Java in Android

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Re: Oracle sues Google over use of Java in Android

#221
post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The letter he wrote for the Giving Pledge website actually shows a bit of him being a saint and an asshole: http://givingpledge.org/#larry_ellison To whom it may concern, Many years ago, I put virtually all of my assets into a trust with the intent of giving away at least 95% of my wealth to charitable causes. I have already given hundreds of millions of dollars to medical research and education, and I will give bill…

I wonder how much did google give away till now...

Think "Google Summer of Code" for starters..

Re: Oracle sues Google over use of Java in Android

#222
post #7

The biggest issue I see with Oracle's lawsuit is not with Android itself, but the future of Java as an open platform. The claims are pretty serious, and Oracle is going straight for the jugular. It'll be interesting to see how it shakes out, but I've got to hope that Google will come out of this in good shape for the sake of Java. It's unfortunate that Oracle is interpreting Google's implementation of Dalvik and a Ja…

"It'll be interesting to see Oracle's stance toward other alternate JVMs such as IBM's." IBM could completely paralyze the entire computer industry with their portfolio. That they don't is a testament to how much money they earn in simply letting others do the "hard" PC stuff while they singularly engulf the big iron market. IBM was the only company that I know of that actually outlasted the US government in antitrus…

Also, as the article j-g-faustus linked pointed, Google did something special to avoid the GPL, so JVMs that followed the usual rules won't be affected.

This makes me think that cscotta's point on uncertainty is not so strong. It'll be certainly an unpopular measure among developers, but Oracle can say that the case against Google is similar to the one against Microsoft and use the usual "fragmentation" argument.

Re: Oracle sues Google over use of Java in Android

#224
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oracle may claim that Google infringes on all those patents, but they'll never sue. Patents are just a nuclear deterrent. Edit: Wow, -7 and dropping. I guess I should have included a sarcasm symbol. Spoiler: My point was that patents do get used, and this argument about them just being for defense is nonsense.

A nuclear deterrent only works if both sides have nukes. Google is a pretty young company, with few patents. Oracle is a much older company, that bought many old companies along the way. Oracle's patent portfolio vastly outstrips that of Google.

We currently have enough nukes to destroy the world many times over. If you take the comparison between patents and nukes to its logical conclusion, the same probably holds. Google vs. Oracle == mutually assured destruction, regardless of how much bigger Oracle's portfolio is.

Re: Oracle sues Google over use of Java in Android

#225

Interesting. Please note, I'm not an attorney or expert on Java. The complaint is quite vague overall, perhaps deliberately. It lists the various patents, says what they are, and alleges that Google infringed upon each one. It also suggests that Sun/Oracle owns heaps of Java source code which has been used by Google, thereby breaching copyright. Oh, and since I own an Android phone I too am infringing on their patent…

Whenever someone says 'You infringe on my patents! Pay me! ... No, I won't tell you how you infringe,' I immediately think they're just spreading FUD.

Re: Oracle sues Google over use of Java in Android

#226
post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The letter he wrote for the Giving Pledge website actually shows a bit of him being a saint and an asshole: http://givingpledge.org/#larry_ellison To whom it may concern, Many years ago, I put virtually all of my assets into a trust with the intent of giving away at least 95% of my wealth to charitable causes. I have already given hundreds of millions of dollars to medical research and education, and I will give bill…

I wonder how much did google give away till now...

"In 2004, when Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin wrote to prospective shareholders about their vision for the company, they outlined a commitment to contribute significant resources, including 1% of Google's equity and profits in some form, as well as employee time, to address some of the world's most urgent problems. That commitment became a range of giving initiatives including Google.org."

- http://www.google.org/about.html

Re: Oracle sues Google over use of Java in Android

#227

The most worrisome factor in this lawsuit is how this will impact java as a language and a platform. If Google loses this lawsuit, java as a language and platform could easily die. Many companies would refuse to use it, just to be on the safe side and avoid litigation from Oracle. Oracle probably doesn't realize the massive damage it has done to the java platform just by going forward with this suit. Due to the loomi…

If you like lambdas, you'd probably like F# better: lighter syntax, types are inferred, and it looks like it's quite well supported by Microsoft. But of course, if you consider F#, you may want to use the more free and open Ocaml.

F# has better library support (at least if you're on Windows).

It also has monads.

Re: Oracle sues Google over use of Java in Android

#229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"It'll be interesting to see Oracle's stance toward other alternate JVMs such as IBM's." IBM could completely paralyze the entire computer industry with their portfolio. That they don't is a testament to how much money they earn in simply letting others do the "hard" PC stuff while they singularly engulf the big iron market. IBM was the only company that I know of that actually outlasted the US government in antitrus…

That's interesting. I wonder if Google could buy IBM and then have them drop the lawsuit?

I don't know if you're trying to make a joke, but that might be a bit difficult for Google to do since IBM is worth more than they are.

http://www.google.com/finance?catid=66529330&sort=MARKET... Cap

Re: Oracle sues Google over use of Java in Android

#230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"It'll be interesting to see Oracle's stance toward other alternate JVMs such as IBM's." IBM could completely paralyze the entire computer industry with their portfolio. That they don't is a testament to how much money they earn in simply letting others do the "hard" PC stuff while they singularly engulf the big iron market. IBM was the only company that I know of that actually outlasted the US government in antitrus…

That's interesting. I wonder if Google could buy IBM and then have them drop the lawsuit?

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