Today Red Hat announced a couple of things :

1. that we’ve signed Google’s corporate contributor agreement

2. that we’re adopting GWT (Google Web Toolkit) as a core part of JBoss Middleware

The world doesn’t need another Java framework for developing rich AJAX apps. so we’ve decided to go with what we think is a real leader – Google Web Toolkit. We can do that because of Google’s commitment to Open Source and Red Hat’s long track record of being a valued contributor to some of the most exciting technology in the industry. That’s the power of Open Source.

JBoss and in fact Red Hat has been using GWT for some time now :

1. Red Hat’s IT has been deploying GWT since 1.0 RC1 as part of www.redhat.com applications for our online store, customer center and product activation.
2. The Drools / BRMS UI uses GWT extensively – more details here
3. We have some initial integration with Seam 2.1 – more details here

In case you have questions, I’ve put together a short FAQ, if you have other questions ask them here and I’ll try and answer them :

Q. Does RedHat offer support for GWT today ?
A. Not yet – the plan is to offer full support in the first half of 2009 as part of a larger initiative.

Q. Is there a commercial relationship between Google and Red hat ?
A. No – this is purely about open source collaboration.

Q. What is Red Hat’s current involvement with the GWT project ?
A. We have a number of people in Red Hat developing with GWT and as we earn our stripes we’ll start to increase our contribution the GWT community; beyond that we’re open to ideas – but obviously Google will continue to lead the project.

Q. Does this mean that Red Hat doesn’t care about Rich Faces / ajax4jsf anymore ?
A. Not at all – for many Java developers – GWT is a complimentary technology for others it might be an alternative. We’re not prescribing one particular approach – we’re supporting what we believe are the best technologies for developers. Our commitment to Rich Faces and ajax4jsf continues.