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Date:      Fri, 31 Oct 1997 10:22:21 -0700 (MST)
From:      Nate Williams <nate@mt.sri.com>
To:        wghhicks@ix.netcom.com
Cc:        Ruslan@shevchenko.kiev.ua, freebsd-chat@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: FreeBSD slogan/advert ideas
Message-ID:  <199710311722.KAA24614@rocky.mt.sri.com>
In-Reply-To: <3459DEEB.DBA0B1FE@ix.netcom.com>
References:  <199710302257.QAA15890@Mercury.mcs.net> <199710310108.LAA00321@word.smith.net.au> <19971031122915.60452@lemis.com> <3459ED5A.9FF16E75@cam.grad.ipri.kiev.ua> <3459DEEB.DBA0B1FE@ix.netcom.com>

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[ As long as it's in -chat ]

> >      1. bad java support
> >         1. biss-awt won't work (on 2.2-stable)
> >         2. port of latest jdk from sun is absent.
>
> Java is another infantile disorder (see Dijkstra).

Have you done anything significant (or petty for that matter) in Java?
If not, you're speaking out of ignorance.

> It's also from Sun. 

So are many of the ideas in 4.4BSD, as well as some code.  Your point
being?

> For the first time in history, the entire computing industry is
> preparing to embrace a proprietary, unstandardized, unverifiable,
> incomplete language.  Blech.

How do you figure?  The entire specifications for the language are
(essentially) in the public domain.  *Anyone* can implement their own
version of it, they just can't call it 'Java' w/out Sun's blessing.
(Cygnus is in the process of doing their own version of it.)

> If Sun chose to make the regression test suites public (they aren't),
> then perhaps the library support would be better for all platforms, not
> just FreeBSD.

Library support != language.  Also, I don't see any regression tests for
libc anywhere, yet is seems to be pretty standard on *every* platfrom
I've used it on.  The problem isn't in their 'library', it's in their
Windowing Toolkit, which I consider bigger than their library.

The Swing stuff should make this less of a point, since instead of
relying on most of the the native OS to support features, they are no
only relying on the most basic stuff (at a cost in speed unfortunately,
but process doesn't come for free.)

> Have you ever seen the Java source distribution?  Licensing terms?

Yes, and yes.  Pretty sane IMHO.  I'm only bound for a little while, and
I have full access to the all of Sun's 'patents' so that I can't get
into trouble for implementing anything.

If I had infinite time (or could convince Jeff to take my $$) we would
have a JDK for FreeBSD *today*, but neither option is available. :)



Nate



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