Free Java implementations are software projects that implement Oracle's Java technologies and are distributed under free software licences, thus making them free software. Sun released most of its Java source code as free software in May 2007, so it can now almost be considered a free Java implementation.
Java implementations include compilers, runtimes, class libraries, etc.
Advocates of free and open source software refer to free or open source Java virtual machine software as free runtimes or free Java runtimes.
Some advocates in this movement prefer not to use the term "Java" as it has trademark issues associated with it. Hence, even though it is a "free Java movement", the term "free Java runtimes" is avoided by them.
Read more about Free Java Implementations: Mid-90s To 2006, Sun's November 2006 Announcement, After The May 2007 Code Release
Famous quotes containing the word free:
“That’s free enterprise, friends: freedom to gamble, freedom to lose. And the great thing—the truly democratic thing about it—is that you don’t even have to be a player to lose.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)