Though deadline just passed for international ballots, fate of Java as ISO standard won't be known for months
San Francisco (July 15, 1997) — The countdown to standardization has commenced and Sun is scrambling to clear up confusion surrounding its application to become a Publicly Available Specification (PAS) submitter to International Standards Organization (ISO). In a quickly organized teleconference this morning hosted by representatives from Sun Microsystems, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and the Joint Technical Committee (JTC-1), journalists were invited to participate in a Q&A regarding the status of the Java standards process. If the application is approved, Sun will be able to submit Java specifications directly to ISO to become standards.
July 14 marked the deadline for phase I of the process — ballots from the approximately 27 voting members of the JTC-1 were due at that time. Five ballots are still outstanding, but are expected by week’s end (a seven-day grace period was extended to these delinquent countries). Although the votes cannot be released publicly, Lisa Rajchel, director for international secretariats at the American National Standards Institute, noted that almost all ballots have been qualified; that is, the ballots included comments that Sun must consider over the next 60 days, at which time they must submit their own response to the JTC-1 for consideration.
According to Rajchel, the content of those comments is not publicly available, but the criticisms of the JTC-1’s other voting members apparently do not differ greatly from those of the U.S. committee, which involve such key issues as the trademarking of the Java name, how much of the Java technology will actually be submitted, control over revisions of the Java specification, the openness of the process proposed by Sun, and the evolution and maintenance of the Java specification. Mitchell noted that a brand name and an internationally recognized standard should be able to coexist. He compared the possible Java/ISO standard distinction to that between Ethernet (which is a brand name) and the IEEE 802.3 standard. He said the evolution and maintenance of the standard would be a “tough one” and that figuring out “how maintenance happens that keeps up with Internet speed…but merges well with the standards process we already have, is going to take work.” He voiced confidence that Sun would be able to successfully resolve these matters within the 60-day time frame.
Following Sun’s official response to the initial vote, JTC-1 members then have 45 days to review the response and pass judgement on Java. Exactly how the JTC-1 determines whether the proposal will fly is hazy. Rajchel said that JTC-1 seeks a substantial majority, but when asked what percentage of votes would determine passage or failure, she responded “we don’t count percentages…..our requirement is consensus, not unanimity.”
According to Microsoft program manager Charles Fitzgerald, the vote’s outcome is “not in doubt. Sun’s proposal will be rejected.” He adds, “It will be interesting to see how Sun comes back after this. They have really painted themselves into a corner on this one — either their openness rhetoric or their proposal is going to have to give.”
Needless to say, the ball is in Sun’s court and whether they will volley or serve up a fault will be decided in the days to come…112…111…110….
