Sun Microsystems will today begin the process of open-sourcing all its Java code, in a move that could see the technology further embedded in the web’s infrastructure and bringing in higher support revenues for the company.

Simon Phipps, Sun’s chief open-source officer, said the move is “the largest open-sourcing operation that’s ever been done”.

He added, “We’ve been asking ourselves what we have to do to grow the Java market and the result is that we’re going to open-source all our Java code using GPL [GNU general public licence] version 2, creating a mobile and embedded community.”

To kick off the strategy, Sun will open-source Java Micro Edition in “one large chunk”, and re-license Java Enterprise Edition – currently available under the Common Development and Distribution Licence – under GPL terms.

However, the operation to open-source Java Standard Edition (SE) will not be so straightforward because of its size, and will likely take about six months, Phipps said.

“We’re not ready to release the whole of Java SE yet; there’s six million lines of code in there. So we’re going to release the main pieces, the Java compiler, the Java HotSpot virtual machine and the free-standing Java help system,” he added.

Phipps said the move to open-source Java would make the technology more attractive to end-users, system programmers and developers creating applications for ISVs or OEMs.

Sun’s decision could also help further Java’s adoption as a key component of the web’s infrastructure through increased developer access. Enterprise uptake of the software, meanwhile, could lead to Sun gaining higher revenues from maintenance and support contracts.

Butler Group analyst Michael Azoff said open-sourcing software brings the risk of code forking and fragmentation, however. “Generally speaking there’s one organisation that harbours the project and oversees it, and it will strive to maintain an official copy, as it were. But that’s the nature of open source – that people are free to take something and do something different with it,” he added.