Kaffe's MS-Extensions Will Hurt Java

[Anthony Kimball]

Quoth Godmar Back on Fri, 25 June:
: 
: Why do people believe that MS's extensions are worse than Sun's
: definition of Java?  

There is a very good explanation of why the specific extensions
at issue are a bad idea technically, referenced by URL in previous
mail in this thread.

The broader issue of why any and all MS extensions are worse is a
political issue.  The extensions are designed with the express
intention of preventing Java code from being portable across operating
systems.  If successful, this makes the entire purpose for Java's
existence moot.  Whether Sun or Microsoft is the more likable company
is not at issue.  What is at issue is whether the Java platform
survives to compete effectively in the platform space, retaining
sufficient brainshare to free us from dependence on any specific
vendor, whether Microsoft, Sun, or any other being a matter of
indifference in principle.

The rest of your mail seems to be about how Sun behaves badly.  These
may be real reasons to class Sun with other companies which behave
similarly, but I don't see that as germane to the issue of changing
the Kaffe.org policy on extensions.  What I do see as germane is the
threat to Java platform portability.  Platform purity is paramount
for that purpose.  Sun's efforts to keep control of the platform
specification may ultimately prove fatal to the Java platform, but
let's not help Microsoft kill the baby to spite the bathwater!