Re: Problem with the Debian policy for Java

[Emmanuel Bourg <ebourg@apache.org>]

Hi Bill,

This is an interesting point. May I ask why you need to install a JRE
extension? Is this for a package you intend to upload in the Debian
archive or for your private usage?

AFAIK this extension mechanism is rarely used, and it is going to be
removed in Java 9 as part of the JEP 220, so I'm not sure it's worth
amending the policy for this use case.

http://openjdk.java.net/jeps/220

"The extension mechanism was introduced in JDK 1.2, which was released
in 1998, but in modern times we have seen little evidence of its use.
This is not surprising, since most Java applications today place the
libraries that they need directly on the class path rather than require
that those libraries be installed as extensions of the run-time system."

Emmanuel Bourg