Re: Importing sources (?)

[Mo DeJong <mdejong at cygnus dot com>]

On 27 Nov 2000, Tom Tromey wrote:

> Today I started trying to build a tree that includes both libgcj and
> other free software Java pieces.  My particular tree includes parts of
> Cryptix and javax.servlet.  However, there are other bits out there:
> SAX/XML stuff, audio stuff, and CORBA (at least).
> 
> Assuming licensing problems can be worked out, and assuming that we
> can get the blessing of the package developers, do you think it would
> be worthwhile to import packages like this into libgcj?
> 
> On the downside is increased maintenance burden.  If we find a bug we
> have to know where to report it.  We'll have to deal with multiple
> conflicting coding styles.  Plus which every new package increases the
> already-long build times.
> 
> However, there's a lot of stuff out there.  It isn't always easy to
> find it or to get it to build.  So on the plus side, we'd provide it
> all in a single repository ready for use.  And, since we'd rebuild it
> regularly, we'd at least know that the compiler wouldn't break on it.
> Finally, a lot of this stuff we probably just don't have the manpower
> to rewrite (eg CORBA).
> 
> Tom

If you have to build everything to get libgcj, I think
it would be a bad idea. It already takes too long. On the
other hand, I don't see why you could not provide another
library along with libgcj. Call it "libjutils" or something.
It would get built and delivered with every gcj install,
but folks would need to link to it with -ljutils. That
way you still get the benefits without the downside
of confusing folks about what exactly is in libgcj.

Mo DeJong
Red Hat Inc