[kaffe] Re: GNU classpath and AWT

[Jim Pick]

On 14 Aug 2003 12:28:33 -0600
"Tom Tromey" <tromey at redhat.com> wrote:

> >>>>> "James" == James Simmons <jsimmons at infradead.org> writes:
> 
> James> Yes. Actually there is alot ot work on. I like to see
> James> multimedia truly supported in Kaffe.
> 
> Let me make a plea for new packages and such to be written in
> Classpath, not kaffe.
> 
> My belief is that there aren't enough free software java hackers for
> us to spend time rewriting bits.  Instead we should, wherever
> possible, share efforts.
> 
> This isn't always possible due to different goals, histories, etc.
> But it seems to me that the library is one place where cooperation
> rather than competition is the order of the day.

Amen.  I second that.

If people contribute to Classpath, then it can be used by a large number
of different VM implementations.

I see Kaffe's chief role as an "integration point" where we can try to
get everything working and test it all.  Our implementation is closer to
the standard architecture of Sun's JDK than some of the other projects
out there, so getting some things to work is easier for us.  If we use
code from Classpath, and we get it to work, and we identify and fix
bugs, and push it back up to Classpath, it helps out other
implementations, such as gcj, which are trying to do other really
innovative (but harder) stuff.

That said, Kaffe is distinct in that it is a bit more flexible on the
licensing side, since we're GPL'd and we don't need copyright
assignment.  So we can also integrate additional cool stuff that might
not be found in Classpath due to silly political reasons.  I'd like to
do it intelligently, so that we don't end up detracting or pulling focus
away from projects like Classpath.

Cheers,

 - Jim