Sun faces Java challenge from open source developers

US software developer, Cygnus has released a suit of Java tools designed to challenge Sun Microsystems' control of the programming language.

The library tools are open source, meaning that anyone can download them for free, modify them and use them for their own purposes. The tools join Java open source compilers Cygnus released earlier this year.

Kevin Phillips, Java and Linux product manager at Cygnus, said the company's total Java test suite represents a "cross-fertilisation of tests from Cygnus, the Free Software Foundation, Transvirtual Technologies and Hewlett-Packard (HP)".

The test suite was developed according to published Java API documentation and is a key part of a campaign - called Project Mauve - by Java developers to bypass Sun's restrictive licensing requirements.

HP last year released its own version of Java for embedded systems - Chai - which it donated to Project Mauve. Anthony Green, Java engineering manager at Cygnus, said the test suite gives developers who use Java clones like Chai a means of testing their products to see if they behave like fully licensed Java products.

Sun does not condone the independent testing effort. "Compatibility testing in general is a very complex process, and our Java compatibility tests are the only ones that provide the brand name power and the guarantee of compatibility," a Sun spokesperson said.