Joshua Nichols - Latest comments on Java 1.4: Do we still need it?

In response to: Java 1.4: Do we still need it?

Joshua Nichols [Member] — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 05:25:27 +0000

I don't know how to better explain things without rehashing over what has been said already.

I suppose one of the key points is that you will run into problems if you try to compile generation-1 packages with >virtual/jdk-1.4, particularly when you have other packages depending on that package not having 1.5 or later bytecode.

Whether or not you will use Java 1.4 is kind of irrelevant. This is because for now, our build system needs 1.4 around to build some packages. It similar asking why you would need gcc on your Gentoo system if you never plan on compiling anything (from the perspective of a user of the gcc command). Since we do compile from source, you would need gcc to be able to build anything, because our build system necessitates it. It is not dissimilar for Java 1.4.

But in reality, given enough time, all packages will be migrated and stabilized, with unmigrated revisions getting dropped. Once that is done, it will only be packages which inheritly require Java 1.4, or have issues with any other version of Java. Hopefully, those will be packages on the fringe, and if we have the source, we should be able to fix them.

About updating unmigrated packages to depend on =virtual/jdk-1.4* specifically instead of >=virtual/jdk-1.4 (or whatever)... we believe that that time is better spent on just migrating the offending package.

In response to: Java 1.4: Do we still need it?

kavol [Visitor] — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 14:37:44 +0000

hello,

nice explanation, but ... I do not understand why should I install Java 1.4 even when I do not plan to use any of the old code?

see, I am not an Java expert ... I was asked by a friend to set-up a server for testing his project - this is a new project, from scratch, no need to support older Java

then I do not understand the need for older Java? - if this is a requierement of some specific package, then why does not the package report "I need Java 1.4", why the error message is written just like "you have to have Java 1.4 in Gentoo"?

... this is confusing for me - if the problem is only a few unmigrated packages, how can you know that I will need one of these and that I need to pull all the ballast of the older Java copy?

In response to: Java 1.4: Do we still need it?

triod [Visitor] — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 00:11:21 +0000

Okay. What about amd64 systems? For example, ant may be compiled via jdk-1.5.(last). If we have java build systems, we can try use cvs or others method to get the sources for testing and/or make ebuilds. But now, after last emerge --sync (2006-09-01), portage try to download blackdown(64bit). This is incorrect....

In response to: Java 1.4: Do we still need it?

FLu-X [Visitor] — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 19:24:06 +0000

Additionally, some platforms, such as the Silicon Graphics SGI, don't have a JVM 1.5 implementation, which is a shame...

In response to: Java 1.4: Do we still need it?

Joshua Nichols [Member] — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 02:16:24 +0000

Excellent point Stu. My post was mostly a response to people who have been 'inquiring' Java 1.5 isn't being used for everything yet.

Of course, we need Java 1.4 for people who need/want Java 1.4 :-D

In response to: Java 1.4: Do we still need it?

Stuart Herbert [Visitor] — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 20:54:25 +0000

Hi,

Yes, we still need Java 1.4. Even when there's nothing in the tree that needs Java 1.4, there'll be plenty of third-party stuff that doesn't work w/ Java 1.5. At work, we still use Java 1.4 because we find the CORBA support in Java 1.5 just too unreliable.

Best regards,
Stu

In response to: Java 1.4: Do we still need it?

Caster [Visitor] — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 19:36:43 +0000

Nice explanation, that hopefully people will understand. If you put this also on the wiki, we can slap everybody who asks with it :)