Re: make-jpkg not working with current Java 1.6 & Faking Java on Linux Distros

[Blackwell <blackwell@nexgo.de>]

Arnaud Vandyck wrote:
> > 1) Too work intense approach to integrate Sun Java?
> >     
>
> http://www.us.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-archive.html#s-dfsg
> http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-java-faq/ch5.html#s-license-concerns
>   

Hello Arnaud,

Debian is integrating Sun JDK/JRE via some package. That package is said 
to be more or less hardwired to current and known Sun Java versions. My 
question is if it is possible to remove that hardwiring and instead rely 
on the common denominators to be present even in future Sun Java 
versions, so that basic support for Sun Java 1.6, 1.7, 1.8 is present in 
the package at all times, rather than having it come back rejecting the 
integration because the Sun Java version is larger than what was known 
at the time of writing the integration package.

In other words, I am suggesting a technical change in an already 
existing Debian package to make it more flexible. Is this really related 
to license questions?


>   
> > Someone reported at freenode's ##java that make-jpkg does not work with
> > Java 1.6.
> >
> > I wonder why that is?
> >     
>
> $ apt-get source java-package
>
> [...]
>   
I am sorry, I don't understand this answer.

After some thought I guess I get it: "Look at it yourself and fix it". 
See my next answer directly below.

> > If that is all so, wouldn't make-jpkg be able to work with all Sun
> > JDK/JRE archives (past and future), provided they maintain the
> > up-to-this-point-known binary names properly, so that creating the
> > symlinks works the way it should?
> >     
>
> If you are able to do that, you can provide a patch via our bug tracking
> system: http://bugs.debian.org
> File a bug report against java-package and attach the patch to the bug
> report. Many thanks for your work in advance.
>   

I don't understand this reply.

Is nobody maintaining and familiar with the package in question?

Or is somebody maintaining it, but not interested in the change?

I hoped for discussing the change to verify wether it makes sense in the 
first place. And if it makes sense I hoped for the people fluent with 
the package to implement the change, which seems to make more sense from 
a point of time efficiency, code consistency, reliability, etc.

To me it seems weird to handle technical suggestions via "go do it, 
thanks for the effort".


---


As for placing "java" and "javac" on Linux distributions which invoke 
something else than Sun Java:

Is this up for discussion in the first place?

Or is everyone at Debian set on the way things are and have been for a 
few years?

Arnaud, I realize that you folks are working on Debian for free. But 
that for me is not an acceptable excuse for any kind of decision, 
because what you are doing may (and does) affect me and other people - 
even die-hard Debian users.

But as I said, if this is not up for discussion we should save our energy.



With best regards

Blackwell