Judge orders settlement talks in Java dispute By Deborah Gage, Sm@rt Reseller January 7, 1999 12:11 PM ET U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte ordered Sun Microsystems Inc. and Microsoft Corp. to hold settlement talks over how Java interacts with native code. A settlement would remove one major issue from the companies' contract dispute but would not settle the case. Whyte cited Sun's Java Native Interface and Microsoft's Raw Native Interface as two different ways for Java to interact with Windows. He said talks would now be productive since he has already issued a preliminary injunction ordering Microsoft (MSFT) to add Sun's JNI to its products and because "both parties recognize that there are times when developers need to call native code." JNI dictates how Java interacts with all native code, not just Windows. A Microsoft spokesman said "Microsoft has always wanted to work with Sun." But the company has also announced it will appeal Whyte's latest preliminary injunction and has not yet fixed Visual J++ 6.0, its Java development tool, to comply with the injunction. A settlement over native interfaces would have no impact on Visual J++ since Microsoft there extended the Java language to make products developed with J++ run only on Windows. In his order, Judge Whyte proposed that the companies broaden Microsoft's efforts with J/Direct, which allows Java developers direct access to Windows native functions, to achieve "a standardized method for invoking functions built into the platform being used." Whyte also suggested that the companies consider developing one specification that "achieves Sun's goal of universality and Microsoft's goal of more efficient performance and ease of coding." A Sun (SUNW) spokeswoman said the judge's order is standard operating procedure and that Sun has always been willing to work with Microsoft. Court documents show that the companies' failure to reach agreement over how Java interacts with native code was one issue that led to the lawsuit. Meanwhile, Whyte will hold a hearing on January 15 to decide whether Microsoft should have extra time to comply with the injunction and add JNI to its products. Microsoft has asked for a 120-day extension on some products and a 90-day extension on others. Microsoft must also fix NT 4.0 Service Pack 4, NT 4.0 Option Pack and NT 4.0 Terminal Server. Additional reporting by Mary Jo Foley, Sm@rt Reseller From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Thu Jan 7 13:05:59 1999