>>>>> "BK" == Bernd Kreimeier <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
BK> Paolo Ciccone writes:
>> I'm personally disappointed by Sun's reaction.
BK> While I enjoy Sun bashing as much as anybody (in my case, I
BK> have the 7+ years of working with and maintaining of Sun
BK> equipment to justify it), let's be reasonable.
BK> a) Sun doesn't owe us anything b) there is limited if any
BK> gain for Sun in supporting Linux c) they don't have unlimited
BK> resources
The foundation for my frustration is based on few facts:
1) Sun pushed Java as a multiplatform language. The reality is that
they develop only two versions. That's not covering two of the most
used platforms in the PC arena: Linux and Macintosh. Too little for
me to be truly WORA.
2) In November Sun publicly announced support for Linux. The
announcement has not been followed, for what I can see, by
facts. If you don't say a word than you owe nothing but if you
promised you better keep the promise. People are investing time and
money based on what Sun says.
3) Sun has nothing to gain in doing any port, Win32, Solaris or
Linux. The JDK is given away for free and, for what I know, is not
a *direct* revenue generator. Now, if you look at the BTS on the
JDC you'll see that there thousands of requests for Linux JDK. If
Sun judges the need to port the JDK to platform based on the number
of users that want it then the Linux community showed some real
numbers.
4) Granted, Sun doesn't owe us anything but it's them that are pushing
for the adoption of Java. If they want that to succed they have to
support Linux. They promised support and after six month we still
have to see some concrete effort. As I said, there no trace of
Linux JDk on Sun's Java site.
BK> Java is a good tool to have. Thanks to published JLS specs,
BK> open source efforts like Japhar and Kaffe have a reasonably
BK> clear target for taillight chasing, and a legally acceptable
BK> environment. Thanks to JDK source availability, ports were
BK> possible. Thanks to the Blackdown team, we do get a stable JDK
BK> port after a while.
BK> If what we have is not good enough for you, then you have to
BK> pick a different OS, or you have to support projects that will
BK> some day remedy the current shortcomings.
I thought I gave plenty of credit to the Blackdown team, in my last
message and in other occasions. I believe you're totally misreading my
post if you think I said that Linux/Java is not good enough for me. Do
we have to accept everything as gospel or there is still freedom of
speech ? Things are in a prettu good shape but we have a lot to
improve in the Linux/Java front. Denying this will not fix the
problem.
The current status of the JDK is good for early development but the
silence and lack of support *from Sun* is seriously joepardizing any
professional Java development under Linux. You cannot relase a product
in the market based on a pre-release JDK. You cannot announce release
dates of your products if Sun doesn't give us a deadline for the final
JDK release. In general, the feeling of not knowing what's going on
doesn't encourage investing time and resources. I believe that anybody
that worked in this industry and *shipped* products is very well aware
of these facts. I'm not bashing Sun, I'm trying to post some
constructive critique. Sun is, objectively, moving too slowly on the
Linux platform. The sooner they realize this the better for us and
for them.
--Paolo
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