[fedora-java] Re: jpackage.org and FC4

[Chris Hubick]

On Tue, 2005-07-26 at 14:24 +0100, Gary Benson wrote:
> Ian Pilcher wrote:
> > Gary Benson wrote:
> > > Yes, if you want to use JREs and SDKs other than the one we ship.
> > > And also yes if you want to use Java applications other than the
> > > ones we ship.
> > >
> > > However, FC4 users should be careful about upgrading packages when
> > > such an upgrade would result in a Fedora package being replaced
> > > with a JPackage one.  Doing this will in many cases cause you to
> > > lose performance and/or function when using our JRE.
> > >
> > > In short, update from JPackage's yum repository at your peril.
> > 
> > And therein lies a problem.  As you say, there are valid reasons for
> > using JPackage RPMs on Fedora Core 4, but doing so is "perilous".
> 
> Yes, though again it's only a problem if you replace Fedora packages
> with JPackage ones.  Installing packages from JPackage that do not
> exist in Fedora should pose no problems.

Well, great, *now* you tell me (a little late).  The first thing I did
after I had FC4 set up was drop in the jpackage.repo, 'update', and then
install a bunch of stuff.

And what exactly is 'perilous'?  Is this just a native compilation/speed
issue?  Will everything still work, but slowly?  Is this in every case,
and how do we know?

Would there be a way to put hooks into JPP SRPM's, or standardize on
their spec file formatting, in such a way that one could construct a yum
repository which *automatically* mirrors updates in the JPP yum repo,
downloading an updated SRPM, and rebuilding binary RPM's including the
shared lib with instructions to install it?

JPackage, supplying a jpackage.repo file and all, appears to be quite
conscious of being used on FC, so I certainly would not have expected
using it to break things.  I don't recall seeing any big red letters
saying "DON'T USE THIS TO DO AN UPDATE" on their site, or in the FC4
release notes.  In fact, the FC4 notes specifically mention using RPM's
from JPackage.  I think a warning in section 6.1.8 would be in order, or
perhaps some form of grail-shaped beacon warning of this great peril ;)

And how do you use JPackage through yum while avoiding updates - what
happens when you install a JPP package with a dependency on another JPP
package which would update an FC4 version?  If I need the 2.7.0 version
of Xerces from JPP to get DOM3 support, how do I not break my native
Tomcat?

Much Thanks.

-- 
Chris Hubick
mailto:chris at hubick.com
http://www.hubick.com/