"Given that Sun [is] also open-sourcing Java ME (Micro Edition), that allows Gnome developers to create Java applications that can work across the desktop and embedded devices," Waugh said.

Open source Java also makes Java more competitive with , which is an open source implementation of Microsoft's .Net development platform. Java becomes available to desktop developers such as Mono, Waugh said.

"It will be interesting to see the lay of the land between Java and Mono," Waugh said.

Open-source Java may even prompt the death of some projects.

"It should make the project obsolete," said Casey Marshall, a contributor to the Classpath project, from Santa Cruz, Calif. Classpath is a GNU effort to write a free version of Java class libraries.