FW: Announcing Finalists for the OpenJDK Community Innovator's Challenge

Andrew John Hughes gnu_andrew at member.fsf.org
Wed Mar 19 12:24:19 UTC 2008


On 19/03/2008, Ted Neward <ted at tedneward.com> wrote:
> > So, if I'm reading this correctly, the project is to make the build on
>  > Windows both easier and Free?  Your initial proposal was a little
>  > unclear (at least to me), and I couldn't work out whether or not you
>  > were proposing shifting from a Free build system (Cygwin) to a
>  > non-Free one (MSVC).  This sounds different again, so it would be
>  > great to have some clarification.  I'm speaking merely as an observer
>  > here; I have enough problems building OpenJDK on GNU/Linux.  I
>  > wouldn't even want to attempt it on a Windows installation, so great
>  > job in taking that on! :)
>  >
>
> The Windows builds have always used *both* Cygwin and MSVC; Cygwin for the make and other Unix-based file tools (cp, rm, awk, sed, etc), and MSVC for the actual compilation of C/C++ code. (Prior to a few years ago, in fact, it wasn't even Cygwin, it was using MKS, a commercial Unix toolchain for Windows.)
>
>  My proposal was to move away from the commercial version of MSVC (Visual Studio 2003 and/or Microsoft Visual C++ 6.x are the currently-supported versions of MSVC for building the JDK on Windows) and start using the free version of MSVC (Visual C++ 2008 Express), before attempting moving away from MSVC entirely and using MinGW32's gcc (which is much closer to the underlying OS than Cygwin is).
>
>  I'm confident step 1 can happen. I'm reasonably confident #2 can happen. I have no idea of step #3 is even remotely possible, but figure it's worth the look, if the time is there.
>
>
>  Ted Neward
>  Java, .NET, XML Services
>  Consulting, Teaching, Speaking, Writing
>  http://www.tedneward.com
>
>
>  > -----Original Message-----
>
> > From: gnu.andrew.rocks at gmail.com [mailto:gnu.andrew.rocks at gmail.com] On
>  > Behalf Of Andrew John Hughes
>  > Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 1:48 AM
>  > To: Ted Neward
>  > Cc: build-dev at openjdk.java.net
>  > Subject: Re: FW: Announcing Finalists for the OpenJDK Community
>  > Innovator's Challenge
>  >
>  > On 19/03/2008, Ted Neward <ted at tedneward.com> wrote:
>  > > Given that it would appear that my proposal for updating the build
>  > process
>  > >  to use a free compiler has apparently been accepted (see below), is
>  > there a
>  > >  good time to start thinking about doing the migration work? Are
>  > there any
>  > >  major build changes up & coming? I know Kelly has said there's some
>  > plans to
>  > >  move the corba project out to an entirely Ant-driven process, so if
>  > that's
>  > >  going to happen any time soon, I'll just leave it out of the
>  > migration
>  > >  process. (I think the corba stuff still uses the C compiler for some
>  > of it,
>  > >  no?)
>  > >
>  > >  There's a two-step process I want to take with this:
>  > >  1) Let's leave most of the build infrastructure in place and just
>  > try to
>  > >  swap in Visual C++ 2008 Express.
>  > >  2) Let's see about moving over to MinGW32's infrastructure (instead
>  > of
>  > >  Cygwin's) and see if that doesn't help reduce the path problems
>  > we're
>  > >  currently facing in the Windows build of OpenJDK.
>  > >  2) Let's see about moving over to the MinGW32 gcc compiler for
>  > building on
>  > >  windows, and thus remove the dependency on Microsoft's compiler
>  > completely,
>  > >  in case VC++ ever moves out of a free (as in beer or as in speech)
>  > SKU.
>  > >
>  > >  My goal is to ensure that I hit #1 by the close of the project
>  > period
>  > >  (August), and get as far down 2 and 3 as possible.
>  > >
>  > >  Any thoughts? Suggestions? Ideas for how best to tackle this? You
>  > (the guys
>  > >  at Sun) have a lot more experience with this codebase than I, so any
>  > tips,
>  > >  pointers or suggestions are appreciated.
>  > >
>  > >  Ted Neward
>  > >  Java, .NET, XML Services
>  > >  Consulting, Teaching, Speaking, Writing
>  > >  http://www.tedneward.com
>  > >
>  > >
>  > >  > -----Original Message-----
>  > >  > From: announce-bounces at openjdk.java.net [mailto:announce-
>  > >  > bounces at openjdk.java.net] On Behalf Of Rich Sands
>  > >  > Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 6:54 PM
>  > >  > To: announce at openjdk.java.net; challenge-discuss at openjdk.java.net
>  > >  > Subject: Announcing Finalists for the OpenJDK Community
>  > Innovator's
>  > >  > Challenge
>  > >  >
>  > >  > OpenJDK Community,
>  > >  >
>  > >  > We're pleased to announce the finalists for the OpenJDK Community
>  > >  > Innovator's
>  > >  > Challenge. The judges have been meeting and discussing the 18
>  > proposals
>  > >  > received
>  > >  > during the first phase of the Challenge, and evaluating these
>  > proposals
>  > >  > based on
>  > >  > their technical merit, and their likely impact on the OpenJDK
>  > Community
>  > >  > and the
>  > >  > adoption of OpenJDK-based implementations in new markets, for new
>  > >  > applications and
>  > >  > uses. It was not an easy decision, as most of the proposals were
>  > >  > thoughtful and
>  > >  > demonstrated passion and commitment to this code base and the
>  > >  > community. The seven
>  > >  > Finalists, in order of receipt of their proposals, are:
>  > >  >
>  > >  >
>  > >  > Closures for Java                                    Neal Gafter
>  > >  >
>  > >  > Implement XRender pipeline for Java2D                Clemens
>  > Eisserer
>  > >  >
>  > >  > Provide date and time library from JSR-310           Stephen
>  > >  > Colebourne,
>  > >  >                                                       Michael
>  > >  > Nascimento Santos
>  > >  >
>  > >  > Portable GUI backends                                Roman Kennke,
>  > >  > Mario Torre
>  > >  >
>  > >  > Virtual Machine Interface                            Andrew John
>  > Hughes
>  > >  >
>  > >  > Free Software synthesizer implemention for
>  > >  > the OpenJDK project                                  Karl Helgason
>  > >  >
>  > >  > OpenJDK on Windows                                   Ted Neward
>  > >  >
>  > >  >
>  > >  > The judges, all Sun employees, are Alan Bateman, Alex Buckley,
>  > Danny
>  > >  > Coward, Joe
>  > >  > Darcy, Ray Gans, James Gosling, Onno Kluyt, Jim Melvin, Alex
>  > Potochkin,
>  > >  > Phil Race,
>  > >  > Mark Reinhold, and Rich Sands.
>  > >  >
>  > >  > We want to thank everyone who has entered their proposal into the
>  > >  > Challenge. It is
>  > >  > very exciting to see the level of enthusiasm and interest among
>  > >  > developers for the
>  > >  > OpenJDK code base. The finalists were chosen based on the
>  > completeness
>  > >  > and relevance
>  > >  > of their proposals and the degree to which the judges felt the end
>  > >  > results were both
>  > >  > achievable and valuable to the community at this time. Proposals
>  > that
>  > >  > were not
>  > >  > selected as finalists are still valuable and interesting but Sun
>  > could
>  > >  > not select
>  > >  > them all! The judges hope that everyone who has participated so
>  > far in
>  > >  > the Challenge
>  > >  > will consider continuing their efforts in the Community, and
>  > >  > collaborating with their
>  > >  > peers and with Sun to further the goals of the OpenJDK project.
>  > >  >
>  > >  > One other thing to remember -- there is no guarantee that
>  > completed
>  > >  > Challenge
>  > >  > projects will be integrated into the main OpenJDK code base, or
>  > into
>  > >  > the Java SE
>  > >  > Platform specification (which is governed by the JCP). Being
>  > chosen as
>  > >  > a Finalist or
>  > >  > completing a project for the Challenge might help to demonstrate
>  > the
>  > >  > feasibility of a
>  > >  > particular API or language proposal but it does not say anything
>  > about
>  > >  > the likelihood
>  > >  > of such a project becoming an approved JSR, or about the code
>  > being
>  > >  > integrated into
>  > >  > the main branch of the OpenJDK code base. Both the spec and the
>  > code
>  > >  > are managed
>  > >  > under processes that are separate from the Challenge.
>  > >  >
>  > >  > The finalists will be notified and project space set up for them
>  > if
>  > >  > needed in the
>  > >  > OpenJDK Community. As required by the Challenge rules, work must
>  > be
>  > >  > done in the open,
>  > >  > and the entire OpenJDK community is welcome to watch and comment
>  > as the
>  > >  > projects
>  > >  > progress. The Innovators Challenge will close on August 4th at
>  > which
>  > >  > time each
>  > >  > project will be reviewed to verify that it met the completion
>  > criteria
>  > >  > of its
>  > >  > proposal. Cash prizes will be awarded shortly afterwards.
>  > >  >
>  > >  > Thanks again to everyone who has participated. Good luck to all
>  > >  > Finalists on your
>  > >  > projects!
>  > >  >
>  > >  > Regards,
>  > >  >
>  > >  >      --  rms
>  > >  >
>  > >  > --
>  > >  > Rich Sands                     Phone: +1 781 881 4067 / x81524
>  > >  > Community Marketing Manager    Email: richard.sands at sun.com
>  > >  > Java SE Marketing              SMS: 6172830027 at vtext.com
>  > >  > Sun Microsystems, Inc.
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>  > 3/18/2008
>  > >  8:10 AM
>  > >
>  > >
>  > >
>  >
>  > So, if I'm reading this correctly, the project is to make the build on
>  > Windows both easier and Free?  Your initial proposal was a little
>  > unclear (at least to me), and I couldn't work out whether or not you
>  > were proposing shifting from a Free build system (Cygwin) to a
>  > non-Free one (MSVC).  This sounds different again, so it would be
>  > great to have some clarification.  I'm speaking merely as an observer
>  > here; I have enough problems building OpenJDK on GNU/Linux.  I
>  > wouldn't even want to attempt it on a Windows installation, so great
>  > job in taking that on! :)
>  >
>  > Cheers,
>  > --
>  > Andrew :-)
>  >
>  > Document Freedom Day - March 26th
>  > http://documentfreedom.org
>  >
>  > Support Free Java!
>  > Contribute to GNU Classpath and the OpenJDK
>  > http://www.gnu.org/software/classpath
>  > http://openjdk.java.net
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> > Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.21.7/1333 - Release Date:
>  > 3/18/2008 8:10 AM
>  >
>
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>
>

Ah ok, then that's a great idea! Best of luck with it :D
-- 
Andrew :-)

Document Freedom Day - March 26th
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Support Free Java!
Contribute to GNU Classpath and the OpenJDK
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http://openjdk.java.net

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