Re: Hello
On Monday 4 October 1999, at 17 h 13, the keyboard of Brent Fulgham
<brent.fulgham@xpsystems.com> wrote:
> > discuss Java on
> > Linux with you.
...
> I am also forwarding your mail to our Debian-Java group so they are aware of
> Sun's interest, and who may be able to provide answers to specific
> questions.
[I'm a member of this Debian-Java group.]
Well, at the present time, we have a project to make a nice and clean and
integrated Java environment on Debian (BTW, Debian is not only Linux, we also
have a Hurd port). See the current state of the *project* (it is not complete,
neither "official"):
http://www.debian.org/~bortz/Java/policy.html
Our main concern, and something we would really like to discuss with Sun, is
the licencing issue. Basically, Debian is about free software ("free as in
free speech, not free as in free beer"). This is the basis of our system
<http://www.debian.org/social_contract>. We define more precisely freedom in
our Debian free Software Guidelines <http://www.debian.org/social_contract#guid
elines>.
For Java, we have the problem that:
- while there are several good free Java compilers (jikes, gcj), the only free
virtual machine, Kaffe, fails with most realistic programs, because people
only develop for the JDK, which is not free ("free as in free speech, not free
as in free beer"). We do not regard a free program which depends on the JDK as
really free. So, many people in Debian do not use Java because of that. If we
want Java to succeed in the free world, we need a free Java virtual machine
which works.
- some Java (not the language but the environment) components, like Swing,
depends on the Source Code Community Licence which is not free and, worse,
seems to "contaminate" the programs which use them. (I am not a lawyer and, if
I understood it wrong, I would be happy to get more explanations.)
- there is a rumor that the entire Java definition (as described in "The Java
programming language" book) is not free, I mean, that it is not possible to
write a free implementation of Java, even when you start fresh from the book.
Authoritative advices on this matter would be welcome.
On all these questions, we would be glad to have more information from Sun,
and to try to find a solution together.
Yours,
Java people on Debian
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