Thread regarding Oracle Corp. layoffs

Nah mate, Oracle lost time.

'm glad for the verdict but this is such b—s—.
Google implemented exactly enough to create the illusion of letting people use their Java talents then dragged their feet with a half broken out-of-date language environment.
And they did all this to save money, not some sort of noble rebellion or clever hack.

Sun offered a licensing deal of between US$30 and 50 million. Schmidt said Google would have paid for that license, but they were concerned that Sun had also requested some shared control of Android along with the fee.

A pittance for Google but that vague "some control" sounds really bad right? Well fortunately there's a history here and we know from past licensing deals (J++) this control is enforcing interoperability with other Java implementation. And of course Oracle spells that out pretty easily:

Oracle states that Sun refused because Google’s intention was essentially to fork Java to a Google version of the language, and to prevent it being inter-operable with other versions, an idea which was “anathema” to the “write once run anywhere” basis of the language.

Google got a cheap license and the only stipulation was "don't f— up the Java ecosystem by having your OS run Java-but-not-really" but that was too much for them and exactly what they ended up doing!
I don't know why people are acting like this is some victory of open source. Maybe a victory for open source, but championed by a greedy corporation that fragmented the Java ecosystem for years.
I wish Oracle could have taken another angle here, they deserved damages from Google for this. Google literally pulled a J++ and got away with it.

From the dissent:

The Copyright Act expressly protects computer code. It recognizes that a “computer program” is protected by copyright... And it defines “‘computer program’” as “a set of statements or instructions to be used directly or indirectly in a computer in order to bring about a certain result.” §101. That definition clearly covers declaring code—sets of statements that indirectly perform computer functions by triggering prewritten implementing code.

Thomas seems confused here. An API (declaring code) is not a computer program. A computer cannot execute declaring code - by definition - because it is missing the implementation.

Declaring code does not "indirectly perform computer functions". Declaring code does not perform anything. It provides a reference, nothing more, for a compiler to match one computer program (the API client) to another (the API implementation).

It's interesting reading Thomas' dissent. As per typical Thomas appears to be arguing that it's the letter of the law that matters, whereas it's the majority opinion that the motivations and substance of the law are primary.
Hackers and programmers tend to try and read the law like computer code to be "hacked" and exploited based on the letter of the law. So you'd expect us to be more sympathetic to Thomas' view.

So this is a great example to smack hackers with when they try and "hack" the law, treating it like code rather than something more human. It's a great example because this is a case where the majority is obviously the "right" decision to any true code hacker.

The only thing Oracle (mostly top execs) got from supporting the former guy is Labor Dept cases shut down. Sure didn't influence SCOTUS favorably now did it?

s-xy decision

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end

So how's that Sun acquisition working out for ya, Larry?

ARM can license it's ISA but Oracle/Sun can't license their library API–seem legit.

“ programming language originated by Oracle”

Revolutionary for its time programming language developed by Sun Microsystems, acquired by Oracle when they bought Sun.

FTFY

So despite the lack of bonuses we only succeeded in bribing justices Thomas and Alito?

Down goes oracle! Down goes oracle! Oracle was counting on adding $9 billion from court victory to cloid revenue!