We've got some great events coming up as we end the year. One of those events worth signing up for is EclipseCon. To find out more about the event, and more about the Eclipse Foundation, VMblog spoke to Mike
Milinkovich who has been involved in the software industry for over thirty years,
doing everything from software engineering, to product management to IP
licensing. And he has been the Executive Director of the Eclipse Foundation since 2004.
VMblog: Tell us a little about the Eclipse
Foundation and its background.
Mike
Milinkovich: The
Eclipse Foundation is one of the largest open source foundations in the world.
We're probably best known for the Eclipse IDE used by millions of developers or
perhaps for the Jakarta EE platform, the open source successor to Java EE.
However, we are also the largest open source organization focused on IoT and
Edge Computing technologies. The Eclipse IoT Working Group and Edge Native
Working Group have members including Bosch, Intel, Huawei, Red Hat, Eurotech,
ADLINK, and many more. Together, these projects have generated more than 30M
lines of code. We are also heavily involved in supporting open source solutions
for the automotive industry, as well as a strong focus on cloud-based
development technologies.
VMblog: Can you give us some details
around EclipseCon? What can we expect?
Milinkovich: EclipseCon is the leading conference for
developers, architects, and open source business leaders to learn about Eclipse
technologies, share best practices, and really come together as a community.
EclipseCon is our biggest event of the year and connects the Eclipse ecosystem
and the industry's leading minds to explore common challenges and innovate
together on open source runtimes, tools, and frameworks for cloud and edge
applications, IoT, artificial intelligence, connected vehicles and
transportation, and much more. You can see the full program
of technical talks, participate in community
day and network with the open source community.
VMblog: What are some topics that will be
discussed this year?
Milinkovich: We
will primarily be focusing on our four core "pillars" of development. This
includes our Web and Desktop Tools & IDEs track that
will cover Eclipse projects like Theia,
Che, OpenVSX and more. These are really focused on cloud-based
development and tooling. This is also a big year for Cloud Native Technologies which will cover
Jakarta EE and Microprofile. Jakarta EE, in particular, is fueling a
renaissance in open source enterprise Java. The IoT & Edge track will cover Industry 4.0,
smart city, building automation, smart home, and other emerging use cases. And
last, but not least, our automotive group will be making some major news with
industry leaders.
VMblog: Is there any exciting news that
you are planning to announce at EclipseCon this year?
Milinkovich: Without
giving away too much, you can expect
some significant news involving our recently announced partnership with the OpenAtom foundation
focused on the OpenHarmony operating system and platform. We will be talking
more about the open source projects and a working group in support of this
relationship. There will also be some major news on the software-defined
vehicle front involving some pretty heavy hitters in the industry. Finally,
we'll be celebrating two important anniversaries - the Eclipse IDE is turning
20 and our Eclipse IoT Working Group is turning 10!
VMblog: Are there any sessions that would
be particularly interesting for first-time attendees?
Milinkovich: There
are so many great talks planned this year, but I think technologists new to our
community would be particularly interested in these talks:
In addition to these can't miss sessions, we
have community day, focused
on and around working groups and Eclipse projects. These
sessions offer content organized by the community groups themselves, and often
provide an introduction for those new to the Eclipse community.
VMblog: When does the event take place and how can people get registered and join?
Milinkovich: EclipseCon
is a free virtual event, taking place October 25-28, 2021. Register to join us. For more information on
this event check eclipsecon.org/2021 and @eclipsecon.
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