Re: classes built by JDK

[Dalibor Topic <robilad@kaffe.org>]

Salut Nicolas,

Nicolas Sabouret wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Josh Triplett proposed me a patch to move javacc from contrib to main 
> (see bug #225484).
>
> We however have a question regarding java classes embedded into a .jar 
> file that were compiled against Sun'JDK (non-free). The .java source 
> files are all provided in the package's source (they can be compiled 
> using kaffe) but the fact is they were not compiled using free software.
> My opinion is that we can distribute them into debian/main as it is 
> (without recompiling the classes with kaffe) since the source files are 
> provided. I want to avoid non-needed changes w.r.t. upstream source.
>
> However, Josh thinks that this makes the .jar file non-free and that we 
> must recompile them. Please note that we have no proof that it was 
> compiled using Sun's JDK, but the names of the files in the .jar file 
> strongly suggest it...
>
> What do you (debian-legal) think ?

Recompile. Really. It makes your life much simpler and ensures the 
freedom of users to do the same without relying on non-free software.

It's the easiest way to see if it can really be built using the free 
toolchain, or not [1]. If it can't be, it has no business being in main, 
afaik.

cheers,
dalibor topic

[1] For example, the free toolchain might have a bug preventing the 
compilation. We want to know about such things before they bite users.