One problem with that is that Apache developers are generally not paid by Oracle or others to extend support for Java 6 support in anything, so we tend to stick to what is publicly supported instead. The publicly available releases of Java 6 have been EOL for quite a while now. This is why a lot of Apache projects have been migrating to Java 7 this year and last year.
As for preventing issues while building for Java 6 but using Java 7, I believe you can specify a bootstrap classpath for the JDK so that the code you compile is compiled against the JDK 6 classes while running in Java 7. In Maven, there is the animal sniffer plugin which can fail your build if you use any new classes or methods from JDK 7, and there's most likely a similar plugin for Gradle. On 12 October 2016 at 08:38, Thad Humphries <thad.humphr...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Wed, Oct 12, 2016 at 4:33 AM, sebb <seb...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > May I ask why a minium of Java 7 is a problem for some people? > > > > It would be useful to know this when considering other updates. > > > > In my case, one of our oldest and largest customers--a Fortune 100 > company--is running Oracle WebLogic 10.3, which they purchase with Extended > Support for Java SE 6. Oracle states that Extended Support for Java SE 6 > will be available December 2018 ( > http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/eol-135779.html). We have no > indication that they will upgrade before then. > > Most of my development is with GWT using Gradle as my build tool. In > addition to having to back out Commons Imaging, I am for now sticking with > an older Gradle plugin for GWT because the alternative plugin also requires > Java 7. I've found out the best way to avoid the accidental introduction of > a Java 7 binary is to stick with Java 6 for the build environment, too. > > > > > > On 11 October 2016 at 17:10, Thad Humphries <thad.humphr...@gmail.com> > > wrote: > > > Yes. I've had to pull commons-imaging from my apps and replace it with > > > JAI-IMAGEIO. JAI is old and unsupported, but its jar files still work > > with > > > Java 6. (There are also older versions of Twelve Monkeys that work with > > > Java 6. https://github.com/haraldk/TwelveMonkeys) > > > > > > On Tue, Oct 11, 2016 at 11:38 AM, Sergio Matone <ser...@cedeo.net> > > wrote: > > > > > >> I would like to express my disappoint since the library, which was > > working > > >> perfectly, is now compiled using Java 7 without issuing a version. > > >> > > >> I understand that the library is in SNAPSHOT, but why it wasn't issued > > at > > >> least a 1.0.0 version, tagging the Java 6 version. > > >> You broke builds of several of my programs in production. That's not > the > > >> way Apache usually behaves. > > >> > > >> Sergio > > >> > > > > > > > > > -- > > > "Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscrib'd In one self-place; but where > > we > > > are is hell, And where hell is, there must we ever be" --Christopher > > > Marlowe, *Doctor Faustus* (v. 121-24) > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: user-unsubscr...@commons.apache.org > > For additional commands, e-mail: user-h...@commons.apache.org > > > > > > > -- > "Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscrib'd In one self-place; but where we > are is hell, And where hell is, there must we ever be" --Christopher > Marlowe, *Doctor Faustus* (v. 121-24) > -- Matt Sicker <boa...@gmail.com>
