James Gosling: On a Newer Road

People often attribute Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, or even Narayana Murthy back home, as inventors of technologies that changed the world. I feel James Gosling is not given his due credit. The father of Java had a tough time when Sun Microsystems was acquired by Oracle. After a year-long break and a small stint at Google, looks like he has finally joined back to make a difference. Here is what transpired, most of the information picked up from James Gosling's own blog.

Jan 27, 2010: Oracle announces it has completed acquisition of Sun Microsystems, making Sun a wholly owned subsidiary of Oracle. I am sad at the news, to say the least. Java had a strong community, and Oracle is pretty bad at community building. I am one of many Java developers/followers who are worried at its fate.

Apr 9, 2010: The father of Java quits Oracle, leaving his child he's nurtured for 15 long years, in the hands of its new guardian, and is not very happy with it. Also expresses concern at the treatment meted out to him by his new employer, forcing him to hire a lawyer. Sad.

Apr 17, 2010: James Gosling wonders what to do next, humours his audience by contemplating being a hot-dog vendor when he retires. Decides to takes some time off.

Aug 27, 2010: Gosling launches a T-shirt campaign for free Java, specifically aiming Larry Page.

Oct 25, 2010: Ian Skerrett, the Director or Marketing at Eclipse Foundation, gives Oracle a clue. Having grown disillusioned with the new ownership of Java by Oracle, James Gosling too gives Oracle a clue: "the best response is to walk away from Oracle, stay healthy, and plant a tree elsewhere".

Mar 28, 2011: James joins Google after a year-long break. I am happy. For Google and for Gosling, even as he is sceptical himself since he is taking the road more travelled by, and is not sure what he would be working on.

Aug 30, 2011: Five months and eight blog posts later, James surprises himself and the tech world by announcing his next career change. He would accept the position of a Chief Software Architect at wikipedia page till Gosling joined them. Liquid Robotics designs autonomous, unmanned maritime vehicles called “Wave Gliders” that patrol the ocean at one or two knots, collecting data from a variety of onboard sensors and then uploading it to the cloud.

It is difficult to imagine a world without Java, and while it may not be the only reason for the successes of many other companies, it can be listed as an important constituent. Dear James Gosling, thanks a lot. You have made big differences to me, the software industry and the world. I am sure you will do many more wonders at your new position.