We want to make our libs compatible with Java, but we also want to make them
go above and beyond without putting extra classes into java.*. I think we
should get the process a little less ad hoc at some point, and to that end,
I think we should use gnu.* as our equivalent to java.*, instead of the "bin
for everything that isn't in java.*" that it is now.
gnu.* becomes GNU's Extensions to the Java Library, and backwards
compatibility is guaranteed in much the same way as in Sun's Java.
org.gnu.* becomes the repository for miscellaneous extra classes that just
help out the main, useful ones. These classes could be deprecated and go
away at any time, just like com.sun classes.
I suggest we don't bother with the distinction until we make the first real
beta release. Bickering about whether something is a standard class or not
could bog things down. It is, however, a very important issue that should
not be neglected just because it is hard.
--John Keiser
