Re: [Discuss] UserLinux & free runtimes for java applications

[Per Bothner]

Bruce Perens wrote:

> I would like to hear the current wisdom regarding licensing issues of 
> proprietary Java applications running on Classpath and the free VMs. 
> We'd like to support proprietary applications.

Kaffe, according to kaffe.org, is GPL.  There is disagreement about
whether that allows running proprietary Java applications (which
may include native C/C++ methods in shared libraries).  It probably
does, but you'd want a lawyer to evaluate the issue.

GCJ's runtime uses "GPL + exception" which is intended to allow
use with proprietary code, even for embedded systems (when LGPL
causes problems).

To expand on Dalibor's point:

> In reality, there is no such thing as a Java standard: tha language,
> library and virtual machine specification haven't been blessed by
> any standards body.

Even Sun doesn't have a specification of the libraries:  The
specification is the implementation (combined with some testsuites
that Sun still won't make available to Free Software projects).

> i) RedHat's enterprise linux distribution uses GCJ to build important
> java enterprise apps like tomcat as native applications.

Fedora Core 2 will also supposedly include GCJ-based Tomcat etc.
--
        --Per Bothner
address@hidden   http://per.bothner.com/