For those that have been asleep/hiding/etc. and haven't heard the news yet:

Sun has finally decided/confirmed that it will release the Java platform under 
the GPL.  Furthermore, they've decided that they will do this for the entire 
platform under their ownership; including SE, ME, EE, etc.

The JavaC and HotSpot code are scheduled for release within the next 24 hours; 
the VM implementations are scheduled for release early 2007 (by March).

Richard Stallman is reportedly happy with the decision, and will be endorsing 
the move via video at a press conference with Sun some hours from now.

This is significant news < /  understatement >.  This is the best-of-the-best 
scenario I anticipated, but wasn't sure that Sun would actually do it.  IMHO, 
this move positions Java to grow leaps-and-bounds in all sectors; I think its 
growth will surprise many.

For more details:

ZDNet Blog:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Burnette/index.php?p=199

Slashdot article:
http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/08/0221255
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Woot!

~ Greg