As an open-source programming language, Java can be used, free of charge, by companies wanting to build tools and applications.

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But on February 1st, he started a new job as CEO of Revolution Analytics, the company supporting, spreading, and enhancing R, the open-source statistics and predictive analytics programming language.

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Some cable firms will succumb to Microsoft's pitch, but most prefer an open standard, possibly based on the Java programming language developed by Sun Microsystems.

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Rented applications fit beautifully with Oracle's vision of a simpler and more reliable form of computing based on the open standards of the Internet and the Java programming language.

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Unlike Sony who hides their protocols, the WACI NX has an open protocol which you can access from just about any web programming language.

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The idea, says Buell Duncan III , IBM's general manager for ISV and developer relations, is to create a network of companies large and small, which are conversant in both nonproprietary, or open, computing standards, like the Linux operating system or the Java programming language, and IBM's suite of hardware, middleware and services.

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Open-source programs across the board - the Apache Web server, the Perl programming language and the GNU development tool set, to name a few - are gaining legitimacy as a business platform.

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