[Pkg-grass-general] Update on java packages

[Wolfgang Baer <wbaer@gmx.de>]

Hi all,

this is just an update for the java packages.

I started packaging and especially running/compiling the programs
with free vm's.

Thats the state:

I finished packaging jts. I can compile it with kaffe so it can
go into main.

I finished packaging jama - which is a dependency for jump.
It can also go into main.

I finished packaging postgis-jdbc. Because of the libpgjava
dependency it has to go into contrib. But it is build with
kaffe/jikes, so if libpgjava sometimes go into main it can follow.

I started packaging jump and investigated compilation
with free vm's. Currently a non-free jdk is needed for
compilation and I had also to patch some code for the new jdom 1.0 
release. I had a look at classpatch cvs. All - exept one - compile 
failures I get wiht kaffe are implemented in current cvs. So there is a
good chance jump can go into main when a new kaffe/sablevm
version gets uploaded into debian in the next weeks.

The current deegree1 version depends on jdk1.4, java3d and jai so
it will go to contrib for sure. There is currently one dependency
left (acme libraries) which are not yet packaged in debian.
There is also to clarify the licence of this library.

As for JGrass I had a short look at the source code. I think it would
be very interesting for debian-gis to provide this alternative gui
environment for grass. There are several dependencies on libraries
not in debian so it will need time. I will have a look into
this more if jama, jts, postgis-jdbc, jump and deegree1 is ready.

The next days I will get in contact to the debian java people to
review my packages and get comments. I will cc this list so
you can also have a first look at the packages.

There are a few questions left:

- Who can file itp bugs for the packages. Only DDs ?
- Can/Should I added to the debian-gis project and alioth, so I
  can upload coming packages to the debian-gis archive.

Have a nice day,

Wolfgang