why open standards and java/ee matter

Copyright © 2012, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Public1

Why Open Standards and Java/EE MatterReza RahmanJava EE [email protected]@reza_rahman


Standards are Everywhere…


What’s the Deal with All This Standards Stuff?

Interoperability Compatibility, portability Reliable baseline quality of service Stable core for broad ecosystems Vendor-neutrality, minimize lock-in risks Reducing unnecessary fragmentation

Maintain healthy competitive ecosystems


These Guys Think About Technology??!


Yea They Do, Especially Standards

What are Standards and Why are They Important?

http://www.iso.org/iso/livelinkgetfile?llNodeId=21878&llVolId=-2000

An Economic Basis for Open Standards

http://www.iso.org/iso/fr/home/about/training-technical-assistance/standards-in-education/education_innovation-list/educational_innovation-detail.htm?emid=1441

Studies on Benefits of Standards

http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards/benefitsofstandards/benefits_repository.htm


The Network Effect


The Two Types of “Standards”

Network Network EffectEffect

Open Open StandardStandard

De-Facto De-Facto StandardStandard


The Two Types are Polar Opposites


How “De-Facto Standards” Really Look Like


Why We Have Laws Against Monopoly Power

Higher long term pricing, predatory pricing Fewer market choices, high entry barriers, anti-competitive behaviors Low levels of competition, long-term innovation and quality of service High risk monoculture ecosystem


What Makes Open Standards Tick


Hmmm…

Linux– POSIX

– Single UNIX Specification (SUS)

– Linux Standard Base

Apache httpd– HTTP, HTML, URI, TLS

http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/misc/relevant_standards.html

MySQL– SQL

http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/compatibility.html

Java SE, Java EE, JavaScript, C/C++, Ruby, Fortran, Ada, Pascal…


The Usual Complaints against Most Standards

Standards are slow Design by Committee Standards don’t guarantee portability Standards don’t have my feature XYZ Standards don’t innovate It’s just a bunch of vendor experts


Death by a Thousand Cuts


The Usual Answers…

Standards are slow– Maybe, but jumping on bandwagons as fast as possible isn’t great either

Design by Committee– Maybe, but the world runs on consensus not benevolent dictatorships

Standards don’t guarantee portability– Maybe, but it’s still way better than total lock-in

Standards don’t have my feature XYZ– Maybe, but feature bloat and complexity isn’t great either

Standards don’t innovate– Actually, they do and the world runs on collaboration, sharing and mutual

adoption of ideas

It’s just a bunch of vendor experts– Actually, all kinds of people can and do contribute to standards


So Standards are Supposed to be Perfect?

““Perfect”Perfect” Real Life…Real Life…


Help Make Perfect?


What You Could Do

Refine the process– JSR 358: A major revision of the Java Community Process

– JSR 364: Broadening JCP Membership

Define the standards– http://adoptajsr.java.net

– http://glassfish.org/adoptajsr

Become an active user– http://glassfish.org/javaone2014/community.html#story


Standards Shouldn’t be the Only Answer


Options Beyond the Standard are Vital

Not everything should be standardized– Extensions should always expand frontiers

Standards should adopt mature, proven ideas from the ecosystem– Proving ground for alternate approaches and innovation

Standards can safeguard against monopolies but not oligarchies– Not reinvesting in the standard in established market

– Complacency, collusion (innocent or malevolent)

There can be peaceful co-existence with answers beyond the standard– Can be treated as integral part of the standards ecosystem

– Can be treated as valued and cordial counterweights

– Carefully guard against slippery slope of trading open standard for de-facto monopoly…


Thanks!

why open standards and java/ee matter

Technology

standards standards

oracle andor

innovation standards

standards ecosystem

frontiers standards

standards stuff

public2 standards

open standards http