"It's going to be fixed. Really, I think the real issue why Oracle couldn't change it right now is because there is an impending lawsuit," Rahman said after the panel session. That lawsuit alleges violations of Java patents in Android. Curran, an Oracle employee, declined to comment on how Oracle might proceed on the Harmony matter.

Gosling cited politics as impacting the JCP, with participants having allegiances to their corporations and pushing their own company's technologies. "That kind of rubbish just gets awful," Gosling said.

Panelists also noted Oracle's dominance when it comes to being in charge of Java Specification Requests, which are formal proposals to amend Java in specific areas. About 26 out of 46 JSRs in progress are led by Oracle, Curran said. "It's perhaps inevitable that a significant portion will be led by Oracle," although the number is skewed too high, Curran said. Panelists noted it is a lot of work to shepherd these specifications through the process. Some had been led by companies since acquired by Oracle, Curran said. Gosling, who left Oracle shortly after it acquired Sun, responded, "The only way to fix it is for Oracle to stop acquiring companies."

in InfoWorld's Application Development Channel.