2013/2/2 13:42 +0100, david.hol...@oracle.com: > ... > > I think the "risks" are a little under-stated. You have changed shared code > and > that potentially impacts all platforms (unless you have only added new > functions unused on existing platforms?). There is also the matter of the > "elephant in the room" - the existing proprietary PPC port that Oracle has for > Java SE Embedded. Someone (from Oracle of course) will have to see how the > proposed structure of the new port will impact the existing closed port. It > might be a non-issue, or a major issue - most likely somewhere in between.
Either way, issues with a proprietary port that's downstream of OpenJDK are for the maintainers of that port to solve, regardless of whether the maintainers work for Oracle. The existence of a proprietary port cannot hold back the contribution of an open port. > I am also hoping that this will not simply be a copy'n'modify port as we have > seen in the past. The proliferation of platform ifdefs in shared code is truly > horrendous; as is the duplication across the purportedly platform-specific > code. This problem wasn't addressed for the Mac port but in my opinion (and > that is all it is) it needs to be before the community accepts any further > ports. I think it'd be a fine thing for that code to be refactored and cleaned up, but I don't see that as a prerequisite for a new port coming in. > I'd also like to understand the proposed maintenance model going forward. We > (in Oracle) already have to accommodate our closed ports when they are > affected > by changes to common code that requires per-platform changes as well. Who will > be providing the changes needed for aix-ppc? And how will that happen? Every port needs a documented set of maintainers, and it's up to the maintainers to track changes in shared code. If a port stops being maintained and rots for a significant period of time then it's likely to be removed. This is how similar long-lived projects (e.g., GCC) work. Now that a port that's to be maintained by non-Oracle developers is being proposed, I will soon propose a formal policy along these lines. - Mark
