Sun to Release Java Source Code for Forte

Sun Microsystems Inc.
this week unveiled its plans to release the source code to Forte for
Java, Community Edition 1.0, its cross-platform integrated development
environment (IDE) for Java technology.

Sun (SUNW) said the decision, illustrates
the company’s commitment to open source technologies and marks the first
step in a major new Sun initiative to make Java tools and components
available more broadly to drive innovation.

Forte for Java, Community Edition will form the foundation of Sun’s new
Java technology-based open tools framework. This framework will support the
entire development life cycle, improve reliability through reuse, eliminate
vendor lock-in, and dramatically cut costs and time to market.

Forte for Java, Community Edition 1.0 will be made available under the
Mozilla public licensing model.

The Forte for Java, Community Edition 1.0 binary product is Sun’s attempt
to provide an integrated, extensible, cross-platform development environment
for the Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition. It seeks to deliver integrated
visual design, editing, compilation and debugging capabilities for
development within the Solaris operating environment, Linux and Microsoft
Windows platforms.

Forte for Java, Community Edition claims more than 200,000 downloads to
date. The product is can be downloaded for free from Sun Microsystems’
site.

The binary code for the product is slated for release by the end of
March. The source code is scheduled for availability within the next 90
days.