PT update Sun Microsystems' effort to foster an industry consensus on its Java software is faltering for the second time this year, an embarrassing turn for the company. The memo, written by IBM's Michael Wheatley, raises the prospect that the standard could diverge from the desires of Sun, creator of Java. Sun contends it has until later this month to meet the deadline.
Standardization is the process of defining exactly how a technology functions.
This broadens the technology's appeal, because it makes it easier to adopt. But Sun has struggled with how much control to give up to others, and how much to retain. Java software theoretically allows programs written in the Java language to run on any Java-enabled device. It has caught on for use in large servers and, increasingly, gadgets such as cell phones that connect to the Internet. Sun has been trying to turn Java into an international standard with the encouragement of companies such as IBM, which believe the move would make Java more appealing to governments and businesses reluctant to adopt a technology under the control of a single company.