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On the Agenda: Java Standarization
On June 5, the U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to the International Standards Organization /International Electrotechnical Commission Joint Technical Committee 1 (ISO/IEC JTC 1) voted on whether Sun Microsystems, Inc. should be allowed to use the JTC 1 process designed to enable established technologies to be recognized as international standards. As widely reported in the media, Sun has made a request to be considered a submitter of Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) for Java, a key technology that is helping to drive the adoption of the Internet and intranets as core tools for business.

The position agreed to by the JTC 1 TAG, of which IBM is a member, was a vote of "No, with comments". Some media reports have interpreted this to mean that the advisory group has rejected Sun’s request to make Java a standard, which is incorrect.

In fact, the impact of this vote was positive. The JTC 1 TAG Home Page (http:///www.jtc1tag.org) states, "It was clear that Sun can gain endorsement when it addresses the TAG concerns . . . While there was disagreement among U.S. interests regarding specific aspects of the Sun application, there was overall agreement on the benefits of standardized Java."

In the interests of educating the industry, IBM offers the following comments to further clarify the impact of this vote. We remain convinced that our industry and our customers will benefit from having Java recognized as an international standard, and that Sun is taking an appropriate path to achieve this.

The Outlook for Java to Become a Standard Remains Positive

The JTC 1 TAG was not asked to vote on the matter of whether Java should be considered a standard. The vote was on whether Sun should be allowed to be a PAS submitter for Java. If approved as a PAS submitter, Sun would be eligible to submit Java as a potential standard using a “fast-track” process designed for moving de facto standards through the process quickly in response to industry needs .

The vote of “No, with comments” was supported by IBM (and Sun itself) and should not be viewed as a negative outcome in the process of establishing Java as an international standard. Simply put, this vote asked for further action from Sun to make clarifications and changes to its application before the JTC 1 TAG would endorse the application.

Sun has indicated that it is reviewing the comments and feels confident it can satisfactorily address the issues the JTC 1 TAG has raised. Sun remains committed to using the PAS process as the most effective and fastest method of moving Java specifications into the standards arena. IBM is fully supportive of these initiatives by Sun.

An Unprecedented Step --a Single, For-Profit Company as a PAS Submitter

Some of the concern surrounding this vote revolved around the fact that the JTC 1 TAG was being asked to vote on an unprecedented request. Sun was the first single, for-profit organization to request to be a PAS submitter. This aspect generated healthy debate within the JTC 1 TAG, which came to the decision that an organization should not be barred from using the PAS process simply because it is a for-profit company.

IBM was very pleased with this decision. The rise of the Internet has created both new opportunities and new questions for our industry, and the support of the standards community is key to ensuring that the full promise of the Internet can be realized.

Standardized Java Presents Opportunity for All

The June 5 vote is a part of a larger international process, guided by JTC 1 member bodies in 30 countries. These international member bodies will be voting on Sun’s application in the coming month, with a voting deadline of July 14.

A comment from the JTC 1 TAG Web page sums it up well: "Standardized Java will open a huge range of possibilities for any organization that uses computers."

IBM wholeheartedly agrees with this view of Java’s impact to our industry, and that use of the PAS process by Sun is the right path to ensure vendors and customers are well positioned to reap the rewards of standards-based computing built on Java.



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