Sun continues to hold Java's copyright and will retain final say on what becomes part of the official Java platform, but the company is now welcoming submissions from developers willing to grant Sun joint copyright ownership of their code. Some partners are ready to sign on the dotted line.

Terracotta, a San Francisco ISV, would love to see its Java Virtual Machine (JVM) clustering technology become a bundled part of the Java platform. Its initial efforts to attract Sun's attention proved fruitless, but once Sun began considering open-source options earlier this year, the company's attitude shifted, according to Terracotta founder Ari Zilka.

"It's easy to find [Sun] and interface with them now. We don't have to convince a huge monolithic software company. We have to convince a few people," Zilka said. "It's a lightweight process. It turns from an 18-month conversation into an 18-week conversation, and the community now has a stronger voice."

Zilka said he'd be happy to share Terracotta's copyrights with Sun. The open-source model resonates with him: Terracotta offers its software free and begins charging for it when customers move the technology into production.

"I understand why Sun is doing this. The way the Java community is right now, you earn the right to make money, then you start charging," Zilka said.

After years of enduring a wary relationship with the open-source community, Sun appears ready to embrace the enthusiastic masses. On Monday, the Santa Clara, Calif., company grandly laid claim to being one of the largest open-source contributors in the industry, thanks to the millions of lines of code Java comprises.

For years, Java has been surrounded by a fringe community of outliers doing unsanctioned, innovative work. Now those developers will have the opportunity to integrate their work with the Java mainstream. They include people like Jim Pick, who maintains an open-source JVM called Kaffe.

"I think this kills [Microsoft] .Net," Pick said. It also may kill momentum behind his own project, but Pick doesn't care. While those looking for a JVM now will have access to Sun's official version, Pick said he'll maintain Kaffe as long as users remain interested in the project.

Meanwhile, Pick is looking forward to a Java renaissance. "Look at all the projects over the years that should have gone into Java but didn't because they weren't on Sun's agenda," he said. "It's stuff that would have revolutionized the industry. People will now be able to publish it, distribute it, have it find its audience and take off. You can't do that without a free-software approach."