ObjectWeb to Propagate Open Source Best Practices

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Xavier MOGHRABI writes “SHANGHAI, CHINA – November 4, 2005 – In presence of Ma Songde, vice minister of Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and high level officials from MOST, INRIA (the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control) and the HTDRP (High-Tech Research and Development Program, the organization responsible of the management of the Chinese High Technology Research and Development Program also known as Program 863) signed a memorandum of understanding to promote the adoption of open-source middleware worldwide.

  INRIA and HTRDP respectively act as representatives of ObjectWeb, an international consortium dedicated to open-source infrastructure software, and Orientware, a Chinese consortium which aims at integrating the results of Program 863 in the domain of middleware.

  ObjectWeb and Orientware announced their decision to build a common open source middleware platform and Orientware agrees to release several of its middleware components in open source: PKUAS, StarCCM, XLinker, WSWF and OnceTX. This cooperation between the two consortia is strongly supported by the Chinese Ministry Of Science and Technology and the French Ministry of Economy, finance and Industry.
  Professor Huai Jinpeng deputy president of BeiHang University, chief scientist of advanced computing technology subject of 863 program, estimated this agreement is ‘a successful step to expand the Sino-European collaboration on Information Technology, especially in the software foundations.’

  “Through this cooperation Europe and China join their resources and expertise in complete openness, fairness and transparency for the overall mutual benefits,” said Jean-Pierre Laisné, ObjectWeb Chairman and Linux & Open-Source Strategy Manager with Bull.

  It is widely anticipated that future ubiquitous computing environments will be highly dynamic, subject to constant changes and of ever-increasing complexity. This in turn motivates the construction of dynamically configurable software infrastructures to provide a consistent, systematic basis for system evolution, control and management.
  In order to build next generation middleware platforms suited to these constraints, ObjectWeb and Orientware will work to share and integrate their code bases. Partners will set up joint research projects on topics of common interest such as component models, web services, workflow, transactions, J2EE, mobile agents and Grid computing.

  This collaboration is to be formally kicked off by a cross membership between ObjectWeb and Orientware.

  The common contributions e.g. code and documentation will be released under open source licenses so this legal framework ensure legitimacy of the common code base. A technology committee composed of experts from both sides will coordinate technical aspects of the cooperation.

  About ObjectWeb
  Founded in 2002 by Bull, France Telecom and INRIA, ObjectWeb is a consortium of leading companies and research organizations from around the world who have joined forces to produce next generation of Open Source Middleware. ObjectWeb’s goal is to provide Real-Time Enterprises with independent solutions which combine quality and robustness at the best possible performance/cost ratio. ObjectWeb targets alternative solutions to proprietary products for e-business, EAI, data connectivity, grid computing, and enterprise messaging. Based on Open Standards, ObjectWeb’s middleware includes application servers, components, frameworks and tools. Examples of ObjectWeb’s “cost killer” middleware are JOnAS – an Open Source implementation of the J2EE(tm) specification, JORAM JMS(tm) – a Message Oriented Middleware and Enhydra – a Java(tm)/XML Application Server.

  http://www.objectweb.org/

  About Orientware
  Orientware is an open organization that integrates the mature results achieved by the 863 Program in the domain of middleware by universities and institutes such as Beihang University, Peking University, the Institute of software for Chinese Science Academie and National University of Defense Technology etc.
  Orientware code base is a collaborative composition of various middleware platforms, such as CORBA, J2EE, TP-Monitor, Portal and Workflow built on open and standard technical specifications. The goal is to provide a comprehensive middleware platform for the Chinese national information infrastructure that could challenge its foreign counterparties with respect to performance and functionality.

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  Java, J2EE, and all Java-based trademarks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. Other products mentioned are the trademarks of their respective holders. Investors are cautioned that statements in this press release that are not strictly historical statements, including, without limitation, management’s plans and objectives for future operations, and management’s assessment of market factors, constitute forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties.”

Link: ObjectWeb.org