Sun Microsystems started open sourcing Java in the fall of 2006, pleasing developers with its decision to release the programming language under the GNU General License version 2. Now, nearly two years later, the company has announced it will make 100 percent of the Java code available to open source developers.

Sun developer marketing manager, Rich Sands, told SYS-CON the company is "trying to get Java into places it's never been before." One of those places just might be the Ubuntu Linux distribution, SYS-CON staffers suggests.

Though fully opening Java means it can be included in and used with many programs in which it hasn't been before, the risk remains that developers will fork the code and go in different directions, which could eventually present compatability problems. When Sun first announced its plans to open source the programming language, concern regarding those very possibilities prompted IBM to ask Sun not to move ahead with its project. Instead, Big Blue wanted Sun to participate in an existing Apache-sponsored Java project.