<s>
Blackdown	B-Language
Java	I-Language
was	O
a	O
Linux	B-Application
port	O
of	O
Sun	O
Microsystems	O
's	O
Java	B-Language
virtual	I-Language
machine	I-Language
,	O
developed	O
by	O
a	O
group	O
of	O
volunteers	O
led	O
by	O
Juergen	O
Kreileder	O
,	O
Steve	O
Byrne	O
,	O
and	O
Karl	O
Asha	O
,	O
and	O
included	O
a	O
team	O
of	O
volunteers	O
from	O
around	O
the	O
globe	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
version	O
,	O
1.0.2	O
,	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
October	O
1996	O
,	O
predating	O
Sun	O
's	O
official	O
Linux	B-Application
port	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Blackdown	B-Language
Java	I-Language
supported	O
Linux	B-Application
on	O
architectures	B-General_Concept
that	O
the	O
official	O
version	O
did	O
not	O
,	O
including	O
SPARC	B-Architecture
and	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Blackdown	O
project	O
ended	O
in	O
August	O
2007	O
,	O
after	O
Sun	O
released	O
an	O
open	O
source	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
HotSpot	B-Language
JVM	B-Language
as	O
part	O
of	O
OpenJDK	B-Language
;	O
OpenJDK	B-Language
is	O
available	O
under	O
the	O
free	O
GNU	B-License
General	I-License
Public	I-License
License	I-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
its	O
close	O
,	O
Blackdown	O
supported	O
J2SE	O
versions	O
1.4.2	O
on	O
i386	O
and	O
AMD64	O
,	O
1.4.1	O
on	O
SPARC	B-Architecture
,	O
and	O
1.3.1	O
on	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Work	O
on	O
J2SE	O
1.5.x	O
support	O
for	O
x86	O
,	O
AMD64	O
,	O
SPARC	B-Architecture
,	O
and	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
had	O
been	O
announced	O
,	O
but	O
was	O
never	O
released	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1999	O
Sun	O
Microsystems	O
and	O
Inprise	O
announced	O
a	O
port	O
of	O
Java	O
to	O
Linux	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
widespread	O
confusion	O
,	O
Blackdown	O
was	O
neither	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
nor	O
open-source	B-Application
software	I-Application
;	O
this	O
was	O
due	O
to	O
licensing	O
restrictions	O
from	O
Sun	O
Microsystems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
binary	O
redistribution	O
policy	O
allowed	O
it	O
to	O
be	O
pre-installed	O
or	O
included	O
with	O
many	O
Linux	B-Application
distributions	I-Application
(	O
e.g.	O
,	O
Gentoo	B-Application
Linux	I-Application
)	O
,	O
whereas	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
Sun	O
Java	O
's	O
binary	O
redistribution	O
policy	O
did	O
not	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
Java	O
5	O
,	O
the	O
Operating	O
System	O
Distributor	O
License	O
for	O
Java	O
(	O
DLJ	O
)	O
met	O
many	O
Linux	B-Application
distributions	I-Application
 '	O
requirements	O
,	O
lessening	O
the	O
demand	O
for	O
the	O
older	O
Blackdown	B-Language
JVM	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Steve	O
Byrne	O
,	O
who	O
was	O
working	O
at	O
Sun	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
worked	O
with	O
Sun	O
legal	O
to	O
establish	O
an	O
agreement	O
to	O
license	O
the	O
Java	O
test	O
suite	O
for	O
a	O
few	O
Blackdown	O
participants	O
at	O
no	O
cost	O
,	O
and	O
this	O
was	O
used	O
to	O
certify	O
the	O
Blackdown	B-Language
Java	I-Language
implementation	O
as	O
being	O
100%	O
Java	O
compatible	O
.	O
</s>
