Friday Blogosphere Watch: Java and Open Source Industry Vets' Blogs

With the recent sturm und drang around Oracle's stewardship of Java, the upcoming Oracle-sponsored JavaOne conference, and Apple's decision to make some changes to its iOS Developer Program license, it seemed like a good time to mention the blogs of a couple of Java and Open Source vets that are not to be missed.

First, James Gosling, the Father of Java, is blogging again. His observations on Java and related technologies and issues in his On a New Road blog are especially welcome in uncertain times. He knows the tech and the players, he has a clear point of view, and he doesn't pull punches. Love his "Just Free It" Java T-shirt design in his Aug 27 blog.

One of the reasons I'm recommending this blog so highly is that Mr. Gosling's posts generated a lot of responses, so it's more than just a venerable Java jock holding court; it's a conversation.

Next, is the blog of Bruce Perens, original author of the "Open Source Definition" and a founder of the Open Source Initiative, the Linux Standard Base, and Software in the Public Interest. The insightful Perens jumped back into blogging after a fairly long absence with some useful posts on the Oracle lawsuit, the Mark Hurd firing and other issues.

I was disappointed to see that he's once again in in "head-down mode" developing "some paradigm-changing new software." Check out his recent posts, and help me nudge him back into the blogosphere (he's on Twitter at @BrucePerens).

If you're not reading Tim Bray's "Ongoing" blog, you're missing a nuts-and-bolts gem. Bray is the co-inventor of XML, co-founder of Open Text Corporation and Antarctica Systems, former director of Web tech at Sun, and current Developer Advocate at Google. Often surly (loved his recent reference to JavaOne as an Oracle OpenWorld "appendage"), always on point, full of tech talk, occasional book and tech reviews, and useful links, this is a blog to subscribe to.

Bray is also a prolific and pithy tweeter; be sure to add @timbray to your fav list.

I had thought I might also recommend former Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz's aptly named "What I Couldn't Say" blog, which I found interesting and entertaining in the wake of the Oracle acquisition. But I hadn't checked it in a while and discovered that the Ponytailed One had stopped posting in March -- but that's also the reason for his absence from the blogosphere. Schwartz blogged this week about his new company, Picture Of Health.

Posted by John K. Waters on September 10, 2010