What was the impetus for starting Eclipse?
Originally it was focused on tools for Java developers. The goal was to create an ecosystem for Java tooling which rivaled the depth and breadth of what Visual.net did for the [Microsoft framework] .NET. What Microsoft was doing with .NET was if you were using Microsoft platforms, there’s one set of tools. IBM’s strategy at the time was to do something similar for Java. Why did IBM relinquish control of Eclipse? What IBM started to observe was that although it was doing really well, it was hitting a glass ceiling because IBM’s direct competitors did not want to get involved in a project they perceived as being too closely aligned with IBM. So in January 2004 the Eclipse Foundation was created, which is a separate, independent, not-for-profit entity that took over stewardship of the Eclipse community. That strategy really did work because a year after that a number of IBM’s direct competitors, including BEA, Borland and Computer Associates, all joined the Eclipse Foundation and started
