Sun, Liferay launch initiative to develop next-gen Web technologies
ConvergenceAsia staff
08/04/2008

Sun Microsystems and the OpenPortal community have announced a new open source initiative with Liferay to develop a common Web presentation platform that incorporates portal and integration technologies from both companies.

The Sun and Liferay products resulting from this initiative will bring developers simple, lightweight presentation capabilities for GlassFish, Sun's open source Java Platform Enterprise Edition (Java EE) application server. Free downloads are available at http://www.glassfish.org/portal.
 
Sun and Liferay also plan to separately market and sell products and services based on the commonly developed open source platform, offering customers additional functionality and more choice depending on features and level of support needed.

Sun is also announcing the preview release of a lightweight platform for simplifying Web site development and building collaborative work spaces. Sun's new platform also allows Web developers to incorporate role-based access to content and applications, adding an extra layer of security and control to their portals.

"The GlassFish community continues to grow and demand open source, enterprise-class solutions. Our association with Liferay and its great platform is an example of multiple communities and partners working together to deliver on the Java software community’s requests," said Mark Herring, vice president of marketing, Software Infrastructure, Sun Microsystems.

As Sun's involvement in open source expands, customers and developers can expect to see new models of collaboration within open source software communities in an effort to drive adoption of interesting technologies, he added.

Sun's new platform will provide customers and Web developers with the following features:
- Multi-language support - Integrates Ruby, PHP or Java technology into a single pageview.
- Widget syndication - Easily syndicates widgets using REST technologies. For example, an end user will be able to easily incorporate a hosted widget, such as flight schedules or weather reports, into a Web page with a simple point and click.
- Workflow API - Builds human workflow applications using standards.
- Simplification of page development and maintenance in Web-oriented architectures - Leverages widgets and gadgets from multiple language types.
- Flexibility of licences - Sun distributions will be available under the Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL) and the Liferay distributions will be available under the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) licence.

advertisement