Sun Turns Towards Jython

by Mike Gunderloy - Mar. 05, 2008Comments (5)

Sun continues to support open source by putting its money where its mouth is, in ways large and small. You may have missed it in the clamor about their $1 billion purchase of MySQL, but this past week Sun also moved to lend some support to the Python-on-Java project Jython. How so? They did this by hiring ex-Chander developer Ted Leung and Jython maintainer Frank Wierzbicki to work full-time on dynamic languages at Sun.

This move, of course, follows on the success that the JRuby project has enjoyed by having two of its core committers working for Sun (and the success that Sun has enjoyed from that investment as well). Thanks largely to this support from Sun, JRuby has now reached the point of being a doubly-credible Ruby implementation. First, it's good enough Ruby to enable projects such as JRuby on Rails, hosting Rails sites on top of Java. But just as importantly (perhaps more so, from Sun's point of view), it's made it possible to move Ruby and Rails applications into otherwise-stodgy corporate IT settings, since they can be sold as "running on the proven Java enterprise stack" - a point which companies such as ThoughtWorks are quick to make to their clients.

Basking in this success from one dynamic language, Sun is ready to turn to the next. The ability to sell Jython as the "enterprise version" of Python would open up those same large clients to applications written in frameworks such as Django and TurboGears. The payoff for Sun? Increased sales of powerful servers that come with a first-class Java stack, or so they hope. The payoff for the rest of us? More credibility for open source, faster development of Jython, and an example of a working open source business model. It's a great deal all around if it works out.


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5 Comments
 

Wait a minute - did you say "sell"? Jython is great. Not as well documented (or stable!) as python, but it can pull in a ton of libraries.


The question is - will they be able to get it be as powerful without requiring the Java overhead!


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Selling is definitely at issue here, and it's also at issue in Sun's acquisition of MySQL. As Reuven astutely pointed out in his post on MySQL and Sun, Sun has the potential to start selling hardware and open source software combinations at a tiny fraction of what IBM and Oracle want to charge. A top-notch Java stack and many other kinds of open source software additions to their mix make lots of sense.


Sam


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That kills the spirit, though! I mean, the whole point is that this software stays free and open so people do not get locked in. If Sun starts to do this, I think they will be going against the grain of the movement!


IBM and Sun have continued to innovate in the community. Let's hope they don't kill a great app by charging even a small amount for it.


Python/Jython are frikkin' great. Let's not have that ruined!


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No one, not Sun, nor anyone else, is going to be able to charge anybody money for Python or Jython. It's not in the plan.


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Anonymous: Here's the deal as Sun presumably hopes we see it: if you've got the chops to do everything with it yourself, Python and Jython remain free and open source and you can implement them on whatever hardware you want. But if you want a turnkey setup of hardware and software supported by a single vendor: Sun's your option. There are businesses that will pay good money for that sort of thing.


0 Votes
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