Re: java packaging

[Vincent Fourmond <fourmond@gmail.com>]

  Hello,

Gabriele Giacone wrote:
> I'm packaging sweethome3d [1], a java application.
> I have some questions regarding the best Debian way to do it.
> The upstream tarball includes many libraries which are all included
> during the build in the final jar.
> Most of these libraries are also available in the Debian tree and I
> think I should use them.
> Should the final jar contain every library (already available on Debian
> and not) or should them only be available runtime?

  The final jar can only contain the libraries for which the source code
is in the original tarball. You'll have to remove all the binary .jars
from the original tarball, as they are sourceless and therefore cannot
be distributed by Debian, use the libraries already available for
Debian, and package the ones which are necessary but not yet in Debian.

  You must not use already packaged binaries. Never.

  I know this sounds really painful (and it is) but this is the main
drawback (and advantage as well) of Java: it is so easy to distribute
libraries in the binary form that people forget that you don't have
right to distribute a .jar file under GPL/LGPL without providing the
appropriate source. Go fish for the latter !

  Welcome to the joy of Java packaging ;-)...

  Cheers,

	Vincent


-- 
The moon was high now, in a sky as black as a cup of coffee that
wasn't very black at all.
 -- Terry Pratchet, Men at arms

Vincent, not listening to anything for now