F21 System Wide Change: Java 8

[Christopher]

On Wed, Mar 26, 2014 at 9:31 AM, Deepak Bhole <dbhole at redhat.com> wrote:
> * Christopher <ctubbsii at apache.org> [2014-03-25 19:59]:
>> I also would like to see 1.7.0 stick around for awhile. Not
>> necessarily as the default, but at least available in the repos. As it
>> stands, it's difficult to use a modern Fedora on projects that are
>> still developing against JDK 1.6.
>>
>
> Unfortunately, OpenJDK7 will be EOLd in April 2015[1], which is within
> the support time-frame of the F21. This is one the reasons why we would
> like to be able to switch over to OpenJDK8 asap for F21.
>
> 1: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/eol-135779.html

I don't see how Oracle tentatively dropping long-term public support
for 7 means that Fedora needs can no longer provide OpenJDK7 in its
repos (not as default, of course), with or without additional updates,
for developers who want to use a modern Fedora, but need to develop
for applications/hardware that requires strict 7 compatibility.

The alternative is Fedora fans will be forced to use an older version
of Fedora, use a different Linux distro, or find some hackish
workaround (yum --releasever=20 ...; which is problematic, because
every version 8 update will obsolete 7, just like 7 currently does
with 6 packages), or download untrusted 3rd party packages.

It seems to me that support in Fedora would be pretty easy: just make
sure it doesn't cause a packaging conflict and recommend the newer
JDK8. Maybe call it -compat? But, I defer to the experts on Fedora
packaging/support policies and decisions. I'm just a user, and don't
know all the implications for trying to include it. I just think it'd
be nice to keep around.

> Deepak
>
>> --
>> Christopher L Tubbs II
>> http://gravatar.com/ctubbsii
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Mar 25, 2014 at 4:05 PM, Aleksandar Kurtakov
>> <akurtako at redhat.com> wrote:
>> > Please keep java 1.7.0 around for some time. It would make moving easier if we have to jump back for a build or two.
>> >
>> > Alexander Kurtakov
>> > Red Hat Eclipse team
>> >
>> > ----- Original Message -----
>> >> From: "Omair Majid" <omajid at redhat.com>
>> >> To: "Development discussions related to Fedora" <devel at lists.fedoraproject.org>
>> >> Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 9:07:39 PM
>> >> Subject: Re: F21 System Wide Change: Java 8
>> >>
>> >> * Mikolaj Izdebski <mizdebsk at redhat.com> [2014-03-24 11:55]:
>> >> > That's exactly the problem.  We need to use a modified version of
>> >> > java-1.8.0-openjdk with extra provides and adjusted priorities for
>> >> > alternatives.
>> >>
>> >> I have started a new java-1.8.0-openjdk build that should fix this:
>> >> http://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/buildinfo?buildID=506921
>> >>
>> >> >               Blocking java-1.7.0-oepnjdk may also be required.  This
>> >> > makes it impossible to scratch-build Java packages using f21-build
>> >> > target in current state.
>> >>
>> >> Is there anything I can/should do here? Shall I file a rel-eng ticket to
>> >> block java-1.7.0-openjdk? Would it be worth waiting a little while to
>> >> ensure that there are no show-stopper bugs in java-1.8.0-openjdk?
>> >>
>> >> Thanks,
>> >> Omair
>> >>
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