Re: Oracle sues Google over Java patent infringement in Android
 

No, it's a Patent and Copyright lawsuit.

Full details here, title of the court document is "COMPLAINT FOR PATENT AND COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT" which details 7 counts of patent infringement and one count of breach of copyright.

Not according to the first point in the Update and Errata box here which states that the Android SDK does not generate Dalvik bytecode directly but that the SDK uses the Java compiler to generate Java bytecode from Java sources and then uses the dx tool to convert the Java bytecode into Dalvik bytecode.

And I believe it is this indirect Java source code to Dalvik bytecode generation that Oracle are now saying is a breach of copyright:

Re: Oracle sues Google over Java patent infringement in Android
 

Yep... I corrected my posting afterwards for the first bit. Still curious about how the patent part will effect this moreso than the copyright.

I didn't realize the second, though. Thanks for the correction. This will be an interesting case for me to read up on even for the technical details.

Re: Oracle sues Google over Java patent infringement in Android
 

Patents can be (and often are) invalidated during a court case, and determining if a patent has been infringed upon isn't always black and white.

Breach of copyright claims on the other hand are usually much harder to dismiss if the copied works are easy to identify (which is often the case with source code and documentation).

IANAL however, but it should be interesting to hear more about the details as the case continues.

I'm not really in favour of software patents so would be quite happy to see Oracle lose that part of this case, but on the other hand duplicating the work of another is simply not on in which case if the copyright claims are proven then Google should pay suitable damages.

Either way though this case means absolutely nothing to anyone other than Google and Oracle right now - the case has no bearing on Java whatsoever (other than to focus minds on getting a licence if you want to do business with Oracle...) :)

Re: Oracle sues Google over Java patent infringement in Android
 

Well, I think it is a first nail in Java coffin.

It is not bad.

Re: Oracle sues Google over Java patent infringement in Android
 

Java is pretty huge in the enterprise - particularly on servers (Java never really succeeded on the desktop) and I still don't see how this spat between Oracle and Google will change any of that.

On low-end Symbian phones Java will continue to be the development environment of choice (I don't think there are any plans for Qt to replace Java Mobile Edition, are there?) so again, this lawsuit changes nothing.

Re: Oracle sues Google over Java patent infringement in Android
 

Will you plan some new product with Java as base language after that?

Or just chose Python/Ruby/Perl?

Re: Oracle sues Google over Java patent infringement in Android
 

Sure - I'd just be aware of the licence that I am agreeing to (ie. GPL) when using Java and make sure I don't breach it. For virtually all enterprises and end users the current terms of the Java licence are absolutely fine, it's only a high profile outfit like Google that is likely to come a cropper as their technology sails so close to the wind and they don't have a licence with Sun/Oracle of any kind whatsoever.

If I thought there was any hint of a problem, and for that I'd have to be developing some sort of Java-like alternative, then I'd either negotiate an appropriate licence for the technology from Oracle or use some alternative but freely available technology, depending on what is cheaper/best for the project. Which is what Google could/should have done (or maybe even did do - now up to the court to decide).

For 99.99% of Java users today this lawsuit is not an issue.

Re: Oracle sues Google over Java patent infringement in Android
 

You can think that you are free from Sun licensing. Unfortunately, Sun may start think differently... later.

And that is a risk for investments. I would be not surprised if Java-based projects now may be downgraded from investors point-of-view.

Re: Oracle sues Google over Java patent infringement in Android
 

What kind of question is that?

It's like when companies gets sued over GPL violations, pro-MS "commentators" jump out and ask would "Would you use GPL software when there is the risk of being sued".

Don't do anything illegal and you won't get sued and if you still do get sued at least you have a leg to stand on.

Re: Oracle sues Google over Java patent infringement in Android
 

Maybe Google should switch to MeeGo now. :cool: