As Christian pointed out via his email, now would be an excellent time to consider getting involved in the Eclipse MTJ project.  Even something as simple as being involved on the mailing list can help us out.  If you are a mobile developer using Eclipse Mobile Tools for Java, consider contributing a patch to provide a cool new feature or to fix the bug that annoys you the most.  Not a developer, but still want to contribute?  We can always use help with documentation and project marketing.  Pitch in and lend a hand!

• The TmL project contains components that are useful on many mobile platforms, not just Linux. As the primary contributor to TmL up to this point, Motorola desires to expand the scope of the project to support other mobile platforms.
• The MTJ project contains some components that could be valuable to all mobile developers, not just those who use Java ME.
• Code for Eclipse Pulsar was placed in the MTJ repository due to timing issues. Since the Pulsar developers also work on MTJ, it seemed a reasonable location. There is a need for a more suitable and permanent location for this work.
• A new project, focused on the needs of all mobile developers has momentum, as previously seen from the excitement around Pulsar. By removing the artificial barriers of “Linux” and “Java”, we hope to provide a home for all Eclipse mobile developers.

It is easy to understand Motorola’s motivations in making this move, given their transition to the Linux-based Android operating system for many of their upcoming devices.  With that said, I do believe that this move is truly beneficial to the mobile development community.  While developers have to deal with the plethora of mobile device platforms and the associated fragmentation, consumers really only care about the results of development.  The more that the tools can help developers bridge the gaps between the various platforms, the easier it will be to get applications into consumer’s hand no matter what their device.

In many ways, this is a natural extension to my original goals of making EclipseME support all JavaME devices no matter which vendor provided those devices.  Of course, JavaME’s role in mobile devices has diminished significantly in recent years, so it makes a lot of sense to broaden the scope to other platforms.  For more information, take a look at the presentation or drop by one of the project mailing lists.

Thanks to the help from Motorola and the other members of the Eclipse Mobile Tools for Java project, the EclipseME code has grown and matured far beyond what I could have done in my own free time.   There are many more support options now available and users should find a much smoother environment.  If you need any proof of the commitment from members of the MTJ development team, take a look at the developers mailing list request to begin work on the first service release beyond MTJ 1.0.

I’m looking forward to continuing my involvement with the MTJ project going forward both as a code committer and as a voice for the average mobile developer.  I want to thank all of the users of EclipseME over the years for their continued support and urge you to make the jump to MTJ if you have not already.  The final Galileo release is scheduled to be available on June 24th, but the versions available right now are pretty close to what you can expect at that time.  The differences between this first MTJ version and the last EclipseME release make it a very worthwhile upgrade to your development environment.