There is wide spread concern about the future of Open Source as Sun uses Java more and more in Open Office.
The concerns are
1. Java is not Free Software nor Open Source software 2. It vilates the project goal of being a cross platform office suit since a complete JRE is not avilable in many main systems like Free BSD. 3. It makes stress on those repackaging it. Redhat is trying to patch Open Office to work with free gcj java runtime.And a fork is very likely. 4. It craetes hurdles in adoption by Govenments as more and more require the application to be open source and the new database tools are not at all based on open source tool.
Here is a more compehensive analysis by Bruce Byfield Java fallout: OpenOffice.org http://OpenOffice.org 2.0 and the FOSS community http://software.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=05/03/22/204244
<quote> Several new features of the recently released OpenOffice.orghttp://OpenOffice.org 2.0 beta require a Java Runtime Environment (JRE). Since Java's license is neither free nor open source, a small but vocal minority has responded both strongly and negatively. For instance, when NewsForge recently published a review of the beta, no other feature attracted as much comment. Some groups, including members of the major GNU/Linux distributions, most of whom repackage OpenOffice.org http://OpenOffice.org (OOo), have responded by looking for alternatives, often while cursing the project for the extra work it has dumped on them. How did OpenOffice.org http://OpenOffice.org come to rely on Java? What problems is it likely to cause? How are GNU/Linux distributions reacting to this change in a key piece of software? </quote> Bruce Byfield is a freelance course designer and instructor and a technical journalist.