MicroProfile.io, a group that has set out to improve enterprise Java for microservices deployments, plans to form its own foundation.
The foundation is expected to fall under the umbrella of the Eclipse Foundation, said Rich Sharples, senior director of product management at Red Hat, which has participated in MicroProfile.io.
It would provide "fair and even governance," with no single vendor dominating, and handle responsibilities like legal and technical infrastructure, as well as trademark and copyright assignment. MicroProfile.io has taken the stance that Oracle, which oversees Java, has been too dominant in Java's development.
"We expect to move fast with technology that developers can play with immediately, with no restrictions, and we'll do that in a collaborative and inclusive manner, not just big vendors," Sharples said. "We'll get the technology refined and fit for purpose then standardize ideally through the JCP [Java Community Process] at some point." A formal Java Specification Request is expected to be filed for MicroProfile.
But Sharples stressed a need to reform the JCP, which he said is not an attractive standards body to many because it's dominated by Oracle and has fairly antiquated licensing rules.
Also, the foundation would provide a single entity for legal representation, seek to boost participation and provide publicity, Sharples said.
MicroProfile.io recently released version 1.0 of MicroProfile, which is intended to pick up the slack in in development of Java Enterprise Edition. Oracle has been criticized in recent months for stalling on Java EE, but the company is now set to jump-start development to cover microservices and cloud computing. Oracle also wants to mend fences with factions like MicroProfile.io and has expressed interest in MicroProfile.io's work.