IBM today is moving the code that underlies its WebSphere Liberty solution for development using Agile and DevOps methodologies to GitHub, where it will be available this week under the Eclipse Public License v1.
The Open Liberty project is working to create a new runtime for Java microservices that can be moved between different cloud environments, according to Ian Robinson, an IBM distinguished engineer and the chief architect of WebSphere. Open Liberty will be the basis the IBM’s continued development of its Liberty product – the codebase is the same — and will be fully supported in commercial WebSphere licenses. It can be downloaded at openliberty.io.
The Open Liberty code on GitHub will give developments the components they need to create Java applications and microservices, using the Java EE foundation from WebSphere Liberty and the work from the Eclipse MicroProfile community. MicroProfile defines common APIs and infrastructure to microservices applications can be created and deployed without vendor lock-in, Robinson wrote in his blog.
Along with being a founding member of the Eclipse MicroProfile project, IBM has collaborated with Google and Lyft on the Istio project to create an open service fabric for microservices integration and management, and would like to see MicroProfile integrate with Istio, Robinson said.
Further, IBM’s commitment to open source includes the contribution of IBM’s Java 9 VM to Eclipse as Eclipse OpenJ9, which – when combined with Open Liberty, Eclipse MicroProfile and Java EE at Eclipse – creates a fully open licensing model of a full Java stack for building, testing, running and scaling Java applications.
“We hope Open Liberty will help more developers turn their ideas into full-fledged, enterprise ready apps,” Robinson wrote in his blog. “We also hope it will broaden the WebSphere family to include more ideas and innovations to benefit the broader Java community of developers at organizations big and small.”
