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Afaik there are several certified GNU/Linux derivatives.
I'm not seeing any [0]. Care to name one? [0]: https://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/register/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_UNIX_Specification#Curr...
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I don't think that's quite right, either (though I could be wrong). IIRC, Android first was done based on Sun/Oracle Java. Then (and maybe even after the lawsuit started?), Google shifted to Harmony.
Are you perhaps referring to Android's very recent switch to GPL-licensed OpenJDK[1] from Harmony after the lawsuit? There was no GPL licensed (and certified) version of Java when the Android project kicked off - OpenJDK came into existance later. Also - Apache Harmony predated OpenJDK by a few years. 1. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/01/android-n-switch...
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If you apply this view to all APIs, the computer revolution would never have happened. The PC was a clone of IBMs API. They fought this battle and lost and now we can argue about it on little handheld clones all day long.
In fact, IBM was so sure that the BIOS API could not be copyrighted they basically made their source public (in the manuals but NOT open source) so anyone reading the manuals to understand the BIOS was tainted and couldn't write a competitor. Compaq did a clean room setup to get around this.
That is not how copyright works. You almost got it right with your comment "anyone reading the manuals to understand the BIOS was tainted and couldn't write a competitor."
Copyright protects against copying. It does not protect against independent development. Hence the clean room set up.
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V8 has little to do with Oracle, fundamentally. V8 came about because they wanted a higher performance JS VM for their browser; the JVM was never in contention there.
In underlying code you are correct. But they both work in a C/C++ style. JavaScript has become a 'Write Once, Run Anywhere' foundation because of the web browser. Don't forget projects like NWJS (Node Webkit), Electron, Cordova/PhoneGap, Google Chrome Apps, NodeJS, and ClearScript(.NET). All of these JavaScript implementations use the V8 JVM and can make desktop and command line application. Depending on security set…
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What exactly was 'copied' by Google? Was it actual code directly copied or just the general design / APIs that were mirrored by their Android Java playform?
The court has made the point now that literally just the class and method names are subject to copyright.
I don’t necessarily agree with the decision but I can see where they’re coming from.
I’m not sure if I have the timeline correct but I thought Java was owned by Sun Microsystems at the time when they made these decisions. I’m sure they rightly assumed Sun Microsystems would never do this. It is sad to see what Oracle is doing with Sun Microsystem’s creation.
The following is the fun history: - Java is created / owned by Sun. - Sun was fearful of MS's EEE approach (embrace, extend, exterminate) where MS took a thing, built their own, pushed their own tooling, added their own proprietary instruction, boom windows lock-in. So Sun basically made their contract: Java is free but only if you DO NOT introduce any new instructions, and implement a 100% compatible VM, nothing add…
I think they see the Sun acquisition more as controlling the Cobol of the 21st century. Putting a stick in Google's eye is just icing on the cake.
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V8 has little to do with Oracle, fundamentally. V8 came about because they wanted a higher performance JS VM for their browser; the JVM was never in contention there.
Sure it does. Why did they want a higher performance JS VM for the browser? The language of choice to build interactive applications on the web before JS was really viable was Java. A high performance JS VM means we don't need to use applets anymore.
Actually, Java was already mostly dead for the public web when Chrome and V8 were being developed, it was more Flash that was the competition.