IBM, which has a vested interest in Java - heck, it has more Java programmers than Sun does - has written Sun, which owns Java and has been pretty darned persnickety about its so-called "stewardship" of Java over the years, an open letter urging Sun to make Java technology open source.

In the letter from IBM's VP of emerging technology Rod Smith to Sun VP Rob Gingell, IBM offers to work with Sun on an independent project to open source Java.

"Sun's strong commitment to open source Java would speed the development of a first-class and compatible open source Java implementation to the benefit of our customers and the industry," Smith wrote. "We are firmly convinced the open source community would rally around this effort and make substantial contributions as well."

IBM promised to provide technical resources and code for an open source Java implementation and urged Sun to contribute Java specifications, tests and code to the open source community.

In his letter, Smith laid out the expectation that open sourcing Java would accelerate the growth and adoption of technologies built on Java such as web services and Service Oriented Architecture.

IBM's letter comes on the heels of open source advocate Eric Raymond's recent note to Sun CEO Scott McNealy telling him that with Java the choice was between control and ubiquity. Raymond blasted Sun's terms as "so restrictive that Linux distributions cannot even include Java binaries for use as a browser plug-in, let alone as a standalone development tool."

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