I think (a) is a major deviation from NetBeans' hallmark: plug-and-play, just install it and start programming. It is exactly this kind of thing we've accused Eclipse for over the years. If NetBeans started on that path it would be ironic. I think it can only be justified if it is an intermediary solution because we really want to release something NOW. And even then I feel it will be frowned upon and we may loose some users as a consequence.
Re (b): This can be done when the IDE starts the first time. Then you'll have proxy resolution in place. Have the user accept the nb-javac license, start a download task and do it all automatically. The user can decline of course, but then he'll basically have an IDE which cannot be used for Java development. I think this is an acceptable workflow. There are lots of examples from open source software where it has to happen like this (for legal reasons). The best solutions has this automated so it is really just a click for the user. So, between (a) and (b), I vote for (b). As a side note I'll be launching even more PRs to make sure that NB can truly detect the user's proxy settings without having the user enter the proxy settings manually in NB. First step was PR161 (already integrated). More will come, for example so that NB will have WPAD support. The benchmark is what the browsers do. With a modern browser like Chrome/Firefox/Edge the user rarely needs to configure anything. The same should be true for NB: if the Chrome/FF/Edge can detect proxy settings without user intervention then so should NetBeans. Not there yet, but we'll get there. On Tue, Nov 14, 2017 at 8:36 PM, Neil C Smith <[email protected]> wrote: > On Tue, 14 Nov 2017, 18:54 Jan Lahoda, <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Another aspect is from where to download the library: I assume we would > > need a reasonably stable place to which we could point the users. > > > > Are there any opinions on this? > > > > As before when this came up, as well as where it's downloaded from, I'd be > interested to know how it's going to be maintained there? It feels hard to > answer one question without the other? > > I also still wonder whether there's been further thought on asking the > OpenJDK project to host it (as ide-javac)? The last time I suggested that > there was a feeling that it was too NetBeans specific, and other projects > were moving to things like Language Server Protocol. Just for the record > (as I mentioned to Jaroslav a while back) of the two LSP plugins for Java, > one is Eclipse based, and the other is using nb-javac. There is obviously a > wider need for the features it brings! > > Best wishes, > > Neil > > > -- > Neil C Smith > Artist & Technologist > www.neilcsmith.net > > Praxis LIVE - hybrid visual IDE for creative coding - www.praxislive.org >
