Quitting debian-java
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I'm changing, I'm leaving for a new employer and, in my new office, I will no longer use Java (which is a good thing for me, see hereunder).
Therefore, I stop maintaining java-common (I will send an official ITO unless someone steps in really fast) and the proposed Java policy.
One of the reasons I stop using Java is that it is too painful when you are commited to free software: most real programs depend on non-free (JDK >= 1.3, Swing). Even for those who do not, gcj and kaffe (unlike jikes) are, in their released versions, far from being 100 % ready. At least for kaffe, the problems of insufficient releases is worse in Debian because the package is too old.
Worse, many people in the free software world seem to care very little about the problem (the Apache group is a terrible example).
Another reason is the lack of standards in the way compilers and VMs are run, making the installation of every new jar a problem (defining environment variables, etc). The proposed Java policy tried to solve this and I would suggest that work on it resume. It is a tough job: everybody will disagree, few will suggest workable and proven solutions.
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