April 2, 2010
James Gosling leaves Oracle
James Gosling left Oracle on April 2, 2010 — months after Oracle acquired SunSun Microsystems — maker of Java, Solaris, and SPARC; acquired by Oracle in 2010. — symbolizing unease over JavaA portable language running on the JVM — dominant in enterprise servers, Android, and big data.'s new stewardship.
What it was for
Gosling created JavaA portable language running on the JVM — dominant in enterprise servers, Android, and big data. at SunSun Microsystems — maker of Java, Solaris, and SPARC; acquired by Oracle in 2010. in 1995 and the JVMJava Virtual Machine — executes Java bytecode and hosts Kotlin, Scala, Clojure, and other JVM languages. that powers AndroidGoogle's open mobile operating system — the dominant platform for smartphones worldwide., Hadoop, and enterprise backends. His exit foreshadowed years of community tension over Oracle's JavaA portable language running on the JVM — dominant in enterprise servers, Android, and big data. governance and OpenJDK.
People
- James Gosling — creator
Companies
- Oracle
- Sun Microsystems
Why it's here
Gosling's departure marked a turning point for JavaA portable language running on the JVM — dominant in enterprise servers, Android, and big data. under corporate ownership.
Why it mattered
It signaled maintainer-founder distrust after a major acquisitionOne company buying another — a common path for tech giants to absorb products and talent..
What it solved
JavaA portable language running on the JVM — dominant in enterprise servers, Android, and big data. community needed clarity on stewardship after SunSun Microsystems — maker of Java, Solaris, and SPARC; acquired by Oracle in 2010.'s sale to Oracle.
Media
ImageJames GoslingPeter Campbell, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Related
- Java announced at SunWorldMay 23, 1995