[fedora-java] F7 plan (gcj/java/eclipse/swt/java-gnome/fop/batik/etc)

[Andrew Haley]

Mark Wielaard writes:

 > I saw the following thread about F7 plans and noticed we don't have any
 > goals for gcj/eclipse/swt/java-gnome/etc
 > http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.redhat.fedora.advisory-board/1551
 > 
 > So here are some ideas, deadlines and dependencies that might be nice to
 > look at for F7 for the various stacks that make up the fedora-devel-java
 > world. Please reply if you are working on any of this, if I am saying
 > something silly/wrong or if there are more stack/application issues that
 > you think are important for F7.
 > 
 > The "important dates" are:
 > 
 > - January 23 - Test1 Development Freeze
 > - February 20 - Test2 Development Freeze
 > - March 15 - Test3 Development Freeze
 > - Release in April
 > 
 > Test2 is just before Fosdem. And since all features should be in by
 > then, it would be nice to try and create a liveCD with all "our
 > features" on it to show off at Fosdem (Feb 24/25, Brussel, Belgium).
 > 
 > - 1.5 language & library support in gcj
 >   This seems to be the biggest and most intrusive upgrade. But starting
 >   this early seems like a very good idea. Upstream is cleaning up some
 >   last issues. And it needs lots of testing. Would be good if something
 >   can be cooked up for Test1. Needs help from gcc-toolchain people.

Tom Tromey and I will merge the gcj 1.5 branch to gcc trunk upstream.
Then, we'll work with Jakub Jelinek to get the result into the F7 RPM.

This must happen soon.  Hopefully the gcj trunk merge will be complete
this week, and we can move on to the F7 RPM next week.

 > - Separate libgcj-rpm. Would be really nice so we can update the core
 >   class libraries separate from the core gcc compilers. Should also help
 >   with updates/dependencies since libgcj provides the mozilla plugin now
 >   and the awt libraries depend on gtk+. Would be nice if this can be
 >   done before Test2 so we can test an upgrade. Again needs help from
 >   gcc-toolchain people.

According to Jesse Keating, we should aim to have this ready by
February 27, the test2 date.  Tom Tromey has already done a separate
libgcj RPM for an earlier version, so we should be good to go.

 > - java-gcj-compat
 >   The biggest issue with this, if the 1.5-stack goes through is that
 >   gjdoc isn't 1.5 safe. If we cannot easily update gjdoc, then maybe
 >   sinjdoc could be investigated as replacement.
 >   http://www.cag.lcs.mit.edu/~cananian/Projects/GJ/#sinjdoc
 >   (Do we also need updates for javap and javah replacements?)

Tom Fitzsimmons has volunteered to investigate this.  However, he
can't do much until we've got Item 1, 1.5 language & library support
in gcj, done.

 > - eclipse/swt/rcp stack
 >   3.2 seems already good to go, and 3.3 will not come out till the
 >   middle of 2007. Azureus, RSSOwl also already seem updated.
 >   Andrew Overholt already has written down some plans for the future:
 >   http://overholt.ca/wp/?p=76
 >   Maybe some work can be done to support the JDWP work in libgcj to
 >   get a little debugging going? And it would be nice to make sure that
 >   the ecj from eclipse and that from the gcj 1.5-stack match up.

The 1.5 gcj branch needs ecj, and ecj is part of Eclipse.  There are
some tricky dependencies between Eclipse and some other packages, and
we should work to have a separate ecj RPM.  Andrew Overholt will
investigate getting a separate ecj RPM that does not depend on Eclipse
into F7.

 > - java-gnome
 >   There are some rumors about a upgrade/rewrite, but nothing concrete as
 >   far as I have seen. If there is a rewrite that might cause some extra
 >   work for applications like Frysk.
 > 
 > - gcj-compiled DocBook toolchain
 >   It seems we have made lots of progress with FOP and Batik since the
 >   last discussion about this:
 >   http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.redhat.fedora.documentation/4582
 >   Does anybody know where we are with that at this time?
 >   Would be nice to coordinate with the fedora-docs-list if we can
 >   provide something.
 > 
 > - jpackage. Does it make sense to upgrade all packages to jpp 1.7 if the
 >   1.5-stack goes in?
 > 
 > - OpenOffice 2.2
 >   Listed here since it does have some parts written in java. 2.2 comes
 >   out end of February. Probably needs retesting with the gcj-stack. I
 >   don't know if there are new java language/library dependencies.

This probably won't make it.

 > Some things that would be nice, but that are probably a lot of work,
 > maybe better left for Fedora *, unless someone volunteers of course! :)
 > 
 > - OpenJDK
 >   Still lots missing. Hopefully at Fosdem we will learn a bit more about
 >   the encumberments and when which parts of the core libraries will be
 >   liberated fully. But it might be nice to see if javac could be
 >   packaged. Or maybe a brave soul make hotspot work with classpath?

Before F7 cutoff?  I doubt it.  :-)

 > - JBoss application server, SEAM stack
 >   Not tried yet. Parts like tomcat are already packaged. If we can get
 >   the 1.5-stack going it makes sense to look at this a bit closer. Maybe
 >   other parts can be lifted from jpackage?

I'll have a look at JBoss, but it has a lot of dependencies.

Andrew.