Simon Phipps said that existing work towards GPLv3 had been "extraordinary and effective" and he said he is "frankly amazed by the criticisms".

Phipps' comments are surprising given that when Sun decided to release Java under the GPL last month it chose to work purely under GPLv2. They are also noticeable because of Phipps' senior position at a commercial software vendor.

"Sun has been engaged directly in the GPLv3 process since it start