Re: PATCH RFA: Do not build java by default

[Matthias Klose <doko at ubuntu dot com>]

On 31.10.2010 20:09, Ian Lance Taylor wrote:
> Currently we build the Java frontend and libjava by default.  At the GCC
> Summit we raised the question of whether should turn this off, thus only
> building it when java is explicitly selected at configure time with
> --enable-languages.  Among the people at the summit, there was general
> support for this, and nobody was opposed to it.
>
> Here is a patch which implements that.  I'm sending this to the mailing
> lists gcc@ and java@, as well as the relevant -patches@ lists, because
> it does deserve some broader discussion.
>
> This is not a proposal to remove the Java frontend nor is it leading up
> to that.  It is a proposal to not build the frontend by default, putting
> Java in the same category as Ada and Objective C++.  The main argument
> in favor of this proposal is twofold: 1) building libjava is a large
> component of gcc bootstrap time, and thus a large component in the
> amount of time it takes to test changes; 2) it is in practice very
> unusual for middle-end or back-end changes to cause problems with Java
> without also causing problems for C/C++, thus building and testing
> libjava does not in practice help ensure the stability of the compiler.
> A supporting argument is since Sun has released their Java tools under
> the GPL, community interest seems to have shifted toward the Sun tools;
> gcc's Java frontend is in maintenance mode, with little new development
> currently planned.

please note that gcj is still required for a bootstrap of openjdk on platforms 
which don't yet have a working openjdk. At least for this purpose it is still 
maintained.

> This patch should not of course change whether or not distros choose to
> package the Java compiler; undoubtedly they would continue to do so,
> just as they package the Ada compiler today.
>
> Comments?  Approvals?

if build speed is the only issue, why not

 - disable the static libgcj build, if not explicitely enabled?

 - disable the biarch build for libgcj? most distributions don't
   have all of the depending libraries available for biarch builds.

Matthias