title: What are the fundamental differences between OSGi and Java EE?
body: <p>So I took some time this afternoon to finally sit down and begin reading up on the mysterious and elusive "OSGi" and its so-called <strong>bundles</strong>.</p>
  
  <p>OK, so I <em>think</em> I get it. An OSGi "bundle" is basically a JAR with some additional manifest information. And, instead of deploying it to a normal application server (or other container), you deploy it to an OSGi server like Apache Felix. It run and then provides services to users/clients.</p>
  
  <p><strong>How is this any different than a normal EAR being deployed to an app server???</strong></p>
  
  <p>OSGi seems to be on the rise (I keep running into it!), but for the life of me I don't understand what it offers (feature-wise) over anything you can do with real-deal enterprise server like GlassFish or Spring.</p>
  
  <p>I know the world hasn't gone crazy, so I'm obviously missing something. Just haven't been able to figure out what. Thanks for any help or insight!</p>