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July 4, 2008

Linux Enterprise vendor Red Hat is getting a bit closer in the delivery of the long-awaited JBoss Application Server 5.0. However, there are still a few problems to iron out before that happens.

If Red Hat manages to meet its promise to deliver version 5.0 of this long-anticipated application server sometime before September, it would be certainly welcomed by the Linux community, but there are some observers that think it might take Red Hat more time to deliver.

Sacha Labourey, chief technology officer for JBoss, blogged that the first release candidate is now 'frozen' and will be available some time by July 6.

Labourey said a further release candidate will be available by late August with the final version to follow closely after...

As El Reg reported in early June, the long delay is down to a major redesign and re-write of the JBoss application server to make it more modular. Version 5.0 was originally due in the first half of last year and a first beta version has been available since Nov. 18, 2006.

Labourey claims that the delay hasn't hurt JBoss's position in the market and, while a number of customers want version 5.0, he said most of our customers are very happy with the level of support for Java Enterprise Edition (Java EE) 5.0 available in the current version of the application sever, version 4.2.

At the same time this is all unfolding, IBM's WebSphere has moved through several iterations with a few upgrades to its support for Web Services and Enterprise Java Beans.

Despite Labourey's kind optimism, the world of Java-based application servers has changed substantially during the last year-and-a-half. Oracle has acquired BEA Systems in a move that has raised a few question marks over the future of at least one of JBoss's proprietary competitors - Oracle's application server.

However, the emergence of SpringSource as a serious open source contender in the Java application server market three months ago must also be a cause for concern.

Beyond the Java world, Microsoft has completed major upgrades of its .Net server with version 3.5 and IIS version 7.0, all in the same time frame.

Now there are many in the industry that are hoping Red Hat will be able to deliver its promise on time.

Source: L.N.S.

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