Java founder: Oracle's Google attack an Apple core

The Canadian-born founder of the Java language, James Gosling, was unsurprised by the patent suit Oracle had filed against Google over its alleged use of Java in Android.

He also claimed the "skirmish" between the companies of two of California's most prominent personalities in software, Oracle boss, Larry Ellison, and Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt wasn't "about patents, principles or programming languages."

"The suit was far more about ego, money and power," he blogged.

Oracle filed the lawsuit less than a week ago claiming that Google "knowingly, directly and repeatedly infringed Oracle's Java-related intellectual property" which it inherited via its acquisition of Sun Microsystems.

Gosling wasn't supportive of Oracle's patent attack, but suggested that Google would not be surprised by the Ellison camp's move, given that cash for Java contributions to Android -- when Java was owned by Sun -- was a sticking point years before Oracle acquired Sun.

"We wanted some compensation for the large amount we would be spending on engineering," Gosling claimed.

"Google did have a financial model that benefited themselves (that they weren't about to share)."

A deal between Sun and Google aside, the real reason Google was focused on Android was to stymie recent efforts by Ellison's one-time wedding photographer, Apple boss Steve Jobs, to tear into Google's heart and soul: online advertising, Gosling claimed.

Incidentally, Apple had since barred third party advertising networks from using its iAd mobile advertising platform, a move which appeared aimed at preventing Google's AdMob from using it.

"Mostly they wanted to disrupt Apple's trajectory, and Apple's expected entry into advertising," according to Gosling.

"If mobile devices took over as the computing platform for consumers, then Google's advertising channel, and the heart of its revenue, [was] gutted."

Oracle's plans to sue Google were a long time in the making, according to Gosling, who recently noted that during the integration meetings between Sun and Oracle, he was being "grilled" about the patent situation between Sun and Google.

"We could see the Oracle lawyer's eyes sparkle. Filing patent suits was never in Sun's genetic code. Alas...."