News
O'Reilly issues JXTA challenge
- By John K. Waters
- June 18, 2001
OpenP2P.com, a Web site devoted to peer-to-peer computing, has issued a challenge to developers using Sun's new JXTA technology. The site describes the aptly named Project JXTA Developer Contest as an effort to "showcase and encourage innovative development work by programmers working in Project JXTA." At the same time, the site's editor, Richard Koman, likens the contest to a JXTA road test.
"I guess you could say that we're throwing it up against the wall to see what sticks," Koman says. "We know that it's kind of early to [to test JXTA developers]. JXTA isn't fully cooked yet, but it's one of the only infrastructure plays and that seems like an important thing to support. The main thing is to get people to dive in and start extending and playing with it."
JXTA (pronounced juxta, and officially known as The JXTA Project) is Sun's foray into peer-to-peer computing. It started as a research project at Sun, headed by development gurus Bill Joy and Mike Clary, that was seeking to build an open, generalized protocol that interoperates with any peer on the network, including PCs, servers, and other connected devices. JXTA started making its way to the development community in April under an open source license.
OpenP2P.com is part of the O'Reilly Network, which was created by technology book publisher O'Reilly and Associates. The site, which was launched in January of this year, publishes news and information about peer-to-peer computing, with definite open-source leanings. Some articles published on the site have been critical of JXTA. Call up the site for more information.
About the Author
John K. Waters is a freelance writer based in Silicon Valley. He can be reached
at [email protected].