On Thursday 20 April 2006 8:12 am, Edd Barrett wrote: > Hi, > > One of my friends recently pointed out that FreeBSD are distributing > Java 5 binaries and actually are licensed to do so from Sun > Microsystems! I'm not sure how long thats been happening, but has > anyone made any effort to try to bag a similar agreement for OpenBSD? > If not I am willing to give it a try (with the consent of the OBSD > developers). I think have an email address of a Java Core developer I > met at JavaUK06.
There are two primary reasons why we will not be able to distribute java binaries: 1) Legal: The OpenBSD project is a collection of individuals. There is no legal entity associated with the project like a Foundation or non-profit org. That means there is no singal point of contact for Sun to contract with and shield the developers from liability. 2) Political: Even if #1 were solved, the binaries would come with a binary only license that is incompatible with the projects goals. On the other hand, I have applied as an individual to Sun's scholarship program to get access to the test kit for 1.5 (JCK). I was approved by the scholarship committee and now waiting on Sun to get them. -Kurt