What implications does this have for java in slackware?

http://www.reddit.com/tb/jwuot

In short: Other distros are no longer able to distribute java as they did previously and must turn to openJDK.

I looked for openJDK on slackbuilds.org but didn't find anything.

The first distro I had, did not even ship with Sun's Java. I had to install it myself.

I had the same issue more than two years ago...it's still the same. Shipping Java may not be clever...it's faster and cleaner to download it from the site...

OpenJDK was okay...but I needed the console, OpenJDK did not have that, then, dunnow if it has it now, though...

Thor

First, Slackware never included the "distro specific release" JDK. Slackware always included the "official website" JDK. It's "distro release specific" JDK that's being retired.

If this becomes a problem, then I would expect the JDK to just be dropped.

For a Slackware end-user (with broadband), it would be as easy to install the Sun JDK from SBo or another third party repository as it would be to install it from /extra.

I'm also under the impression that no-one in the world has ever succeeded in building OpenJDK on Slackware.

EDIT: someone "in the world" has:

Step By Step Building OpenJDK on Slackware

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Ok, thanks - makes sense now.

I may have a play with openJDK if I can find the time.

LOL, even with google translate this is going to take some brain power to follow. I my have to give it a whack. There are a few Java apps I must run.

I have known certain packages can be redistributed as long as a copy of the original license document is included and the distributed package is able to be redistributed and contains no changes other than how the package medium is applied for installation purposes.

I'm certain the original packager could be replaced with a SlackBuild script to auto-download and install the proper files if there was a problem with the license, like the Adobe FlashPlayer has been done.

Of course Patrick will have the last word, so we can only wait and see what he wants to do.

As long as there are no license issues, I hope, that things stay the way they are. I know of no other system, where the JDK can be installed so easily as in Slackware.

A big advantage is, that we have the original JDK in a current version on Slackware. And as we don't have distro specific packages, we don't run into dependency hell, like some others do. E. g., if you have Eclipse installed, you cannot upgrade the JDK in some distros with dependency resolving package managers, because the package manager will tell you, the Eclipse depends on the old version currently installed in your system. Which is nonsens, most of the time. Usually you can do the upgrade, and Eclipse will run just fine. But in other distros Eclipse depends on the JDK an Ant, Ant depends on the JDK, etc.

Guess, it depends on Oracle, which no good news, I am afraid. I'd not be surprised, if they would start charging money for the JDK (and VirtualBox etc.), or change the license, so that the JDK can no longer be included, just as easily.

But as of now, there seems to be no need for action. Don't fix it, if it ain't broke!

gargamel

It pretty much says here: http://jdk-distros.java.net/ that Linux distributors (and that includes Slackware Linux) are expected to build and distribute OpenJDK... as opposed to Linux users who are still allowed to download the Java binaries for personal use only.

And if you think you had a prior agreement as a Linux distributor to include official Java binaries with your distro, then you better look at http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/ja...nse/index.html which is the "Oracle Binary Code License Agreement for the Java SE Platform Products". You'll notice that it explicitly states:
I.e. any prior agreements with Sun and/or Oracle are null and void. Slackware is not allowed (like is the case with all other Linux distros) to ship future releases of the official JRE and JDK binaries.

Eric

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I doubt they'll ever charge for JDK or VirtualBox due to the OSE structuring Sun left in place before they were assimilated into the Oracle Borg collective.

Oracle is by no means a fair player but they aren't stupid to clamp off their free products and lose customers to VMWare and other Java kits that are free.

The installer for Slackware is very much the most pain free. Due to manual dependency resolving.

As far as Debian and it's clones, as well as others, dropping support for the Oracle JDK...

Really if Slackware can keep the Oracle JDK without license issues... Who gives a flying f*ck what other distros do? It's not anyones fault but their own they can't resolve licensing issues... which they do about as well as resolving dependencies.

I've dealt with license issues a few times (not enough the get my ears wet mind you) but most of the time as long as the original license is honored and distributed with the package and the package is intact with all the files and has not been modified other than for the installation medium (as in added to or stripped down), it's legal.

I don't do JAVA because of it's poor security record (just like flash) and I don't normally walk in Java circles, so I may be off the mark here, but I'm sure I read something about OpenJDK becoming the 'reference implementation' for Java 7 SE, so it's future may look somewhat different anyway.


Ahhh... here you go http://blogs.oracle.com/henrik/entry...openjdk_as_the

Slackware will not be allowed to keep shipping JRE and JDK the way it used to (re-packaging the official binaries). But there are two alternatives to that: either Slackware will ship OpenJDK instead (compiled from source) or it will ship only a jre.SlackBuild and jdk.SlackBuild script which enables you, the Slackware user, to package and install the official Java binaries painlessly.

Eric

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Are license issues the reason Google Chrome is packaged like this?

mclau: now that we know what the two options are, how about adding a poll to the thread?

Now I'm curious; what language do you "do"?

Mostly C these days. Though I still have a soft spot for Pascal/Delphi.

My comment was more about the implementation than the language though.

In my opinion, when a vendor starts acting stupidly, his work should be dropped out if possible, just as many GNU/Linux distros and BSD did with ION3. No body likes to deal with an idiot. I have never had a problem with OpenJDK, so my vote goes to include it and forget about Oracle's greed. An SlackBuild for original JRE and JDK could be placed in /extra in order to keep everyone happy.

BTW, if they start charging for VirtualBox, I'll use Qemu/KVM. They know that there are virtualization alternatives out there, so they are unlikely to suicide this way.

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