On the role of the SCA

[mark.reinhold at oracle.com]

2011/5/9 5:21 -0700, gnu_andrew at member.fsf.org:
> ...
> 
> As I mentioned in the previous thread, much of this could be sorted
> out if Oracle simply cleaned up their binaries so that there was a
> clear GPL component with proprietary blobs to plug in.  That's both
> technically and legally possible AFAICS, ...

No, it is not.

Oracle has long-term contractual commitments to deliver JDK source code
under a proprietary commercial license to various partner companies who
would not, under any circumstances, accept GPL-licensed code.

These partners are vital members of the overall Java ecosystem: They do
the heavy lifting of porting the JDK to a wide variety of architectures
and operating systems.  This work is of value to themselves and their
customers, obviously, but it indirectly benefits everyone by ensuring
the ubiquity of the Java platform.

- Mark