JavaOne recap

I'm still mulling over everything I saw and learned at JavaOne, and still watching cached Webcasts of some of the keynotes I didn't attend due to other appointments. Suffice it to say that Java is very much alive, and Sun is doing more than ever to address the FUD coming from Microsoft. Judging from the audience sentiment at JavaOne, don't look for Sun to release Java completely into an open source license any time soon. The Java community is a unique ecosystem that balances the need for a strong compatibility/trademark brand and the need for strong, open conversation and collaboration between vendors and customers. The Java development environment is maturing, and overwhemingly deep and rich to the point of confusion. One of the best BoFs I attended was how and when to have your kids learn Java. One thing that's clear, in the arc of conferences I attended that began with last fall's Microsoft PDC and ended this week with JavaOne, I've completed a broad tour of IT communities laying the groundwork for all my future writing and other media projects.