Red Hat has signed an agreement with Sun to develop open source Java software to run on its Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system.

Red Hat and Sun jointly announced Monday that Red Hat will have full access to the Open Java Development Kit (OpenJDK) code base as well as the Java Standard Edition Version 6 Technology Compatibility Kit (TCK) that would “significantly enhance Java software applications.”

In return, Red Hat will also share its developers' Java contributions with Sun as part of the OpenJDK community.

Sun created the Java programming language in 1995 and released the code to the public in 2006 under an open source license.

Red Hat already supports Java with its 2006 acquisition of JBoss, a provider of Java-based server middleware. With these latest developments, Red Hat customers should benefit from a better optimized version of JBoss Enterprise Middleware in a Linux environment.

“The Java technology ecosystem will enter an era of accelerated innovation," said Sacha Labourey, CTO of JBoss, in a prepared statement.

In a related development, Red Hat is expected to announce Wednesday the planned release of RHEL 5.1, the first upgrade of its RHEL 5 operating systems introduced in March.

A Goldman Sachs research note distributed to investors Nov. 4 indicates the upgrade could stimulate adoption rates by enterprise users.

“Our checks have suggested that significant customer adoption of RHEL 5 would be unlikely until the platform begins to mature, as indicated by future ‘dot’ releases. The availability of RHEL 5.1 should help to catalyze more rapid uptake of RHEL 5,” Goldman Sachs stated.