Geir Magnusson, writing on behalf of Apache.org, sent an Open Letter to Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz (pictured) regarding Apache's concerns over specific details of terms offered by Sun regarding a Java Test Kit. A response from Sun appeared the next day at the company On the Record blog, posted by "jacki" (presumably Sun PR person Jacki DeCoster). Schwartz has not yet responded, instead discussing silicon in his latest blog entry.

The post from On the Record reads as follows:

As you may have seen, the Apache Software Foundation posted an open letter to Sun this morning.

Sun has only just received this letter and since Sun had previously considered this matter private, we need some time to consider it before we provide a more detailed response.

Here are a few initial thoughts:

- Sun is working with as many communities as possible to create an open source implementation of the Java platform under GPL v2 that mainstream open source communities can work with - this includes TCKs.

- Java technology has many stakeholders, and we recognize that we will not be able to please everyone as we move through this process. In some cases, we'll have to agree to disagree on some points.

- Our current priority is to make the Java platform accessible to the GNU/Linux community as quickly as possible.

- As you'll note from Apache's letter, this is a dispute over specific terms, not over Sun providing a TCK.

-We know that the open source process is a journey and we will continue to work with the open source communities and the licensees to determine how Java technology evolves.