From owner-freebsd-java Wed Dec 30 22:29:54 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id WAA27836 for freebsd-java-outgoing; Wed, 30 Dec 1998 22:29:54 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-java@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from ns.mt.sri.com (sri-gw.MT.net [206.127.105.141]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id WAA27822; Wed, 30 Dec 1998 22:29:52 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from nate@mt.sri.com) Received: from mt.sri.com (rocky.mt.sri.com [206.127.76.100]) by ns.mt.sri.com (8.8.8/8.8.8) with SMTP id XAA23642; Wed, 30 Dec 1998 23:29:30 -0700 (MST) (envelope-from nate@rocky.mt.sri.com) Received: by mt.sri.com (SMI-8.6/SMI-SVR4) id XAA07802; Wed, 30 Dec 1998 23:29:29 -0700 Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1998 23:29:29 -0700 Message-Id: <199812310629.XAA07802@mt.sri.com> From: Nate Williams MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit To: Justin Wells Cc: Palle Girgensohn , freebsd-java@FreeBSD.ORG, freebsd-ports@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Porting java stuff? Proposal? In-Reply-To: <19981230190601.A4424@semiotek.com> References: <3689A1DB.3B844BF@partitur.se> <19981230190601.A4424@semiotek.com> X-Mailer: VM 6.34 under 19.16 "Lille" XEmacs Lucid Sender: owner-freebsd-java@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.org > Nate is right, there are likely to be multiple versions of Java on any system. > > The most important differences, though, are the version-of-java differences. > Most applications won't care whether their JVM is a JIT, ELF, or what type of > thread library it uses. Some will, but not most. I was thinking of non-100% pure applications that use JNI, which definitely care which version of FreeBSD is used. Many of the newer API's from Sun use JNI (Java 3D, Sound, etc...) > I think that means: > > -- Versions of Java should be installed as /usr/local/jdk.x.y.z > > -- The most featureful, newest version of Java should be symlinked so > that it appears under /usr/local/java, and this should change regularly > as Java is upgraded. A port should check if it is highest version of > Java installed so far, and if so, symlink /usr/local/java to itself. The problem with this is that users of the system might have the version of java 'changed' out from underneath them. As both the system administrator and user for a couple large networks, this has been a cause of confusion/grief for many of my users, which is why I don't create the symlink anymore. And, is JD1.0.2, JDK1.1.7, or JDK1.2 the latest release? (It depends on your perspective...) > -- Eventually, the most stable, reliable, and trusted version of Java > should appear as /usr/java: whenever it is that the FreeBSD community > finds Java useful enough to use for some core functionality. See above. > -- People choose what JVM to use by default by setting their CLASSPATH > and PATH to reflect their choice. Just because /usr/java and > /usr/local/java exist doesn't mean you HAVE to use them Adding things that you don't expect users to use isn't a good calls IMO. Nate To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-java" in the body of the message