Mystery meat OpenJDK builds strike again

[Gil Tene]

> On May 27, 2019, at 3:19 AM, Martijn Verburg <martijnverburg at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> On Mon, 27 May 2019 at 11:13, Florian Weimer <fweimer at redhat.com <mailto:fweimer at redhat.com>> wrote:
> * Gil Tene:
> 
> > root at 020dc36b9046:/# java -version
> > openjdk version "1.8.0_212"
> > OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_212-8u212-b01-1~deb9u1-b01)
> > OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.212-b01, mixed mode)
> > root at 020dc36b9046:/#
> 
> I wonder if the core technical issue is this: Debian stretch currently
> packages OpenJDK 8 8u212-b01, when it should be packaging 8u212-b03 or
> 8u212-b04 (which one isn't clear, the release announcement
> <https://mail.openjdk.java.net/pipermail/jdk8u-dev/2019-April/009115.html <https://mail.openjdk.java.net/pipermail/jdk8u-dev/2019-April/009115.html>>
> was for 8u212-b03, not for 8u212-b04 or 8u212-ga).
> 
> My understanding is that 8u212-b01 is a version identifier created by
> the jdk8u project, and based on a quick check, it matches what Debian
> identifies as its upstream sources (except for some stripping of system
> library components).  But it's not the most current release.
> 
> It's one of the challenges, the rest of the world doesn't necessarily know about the new `-ga` tag that we use to designate releases, so we need to go and help them.

Let's be clear about what the new (as in "additional") -ga tag is, in order
to avoid the misunderstanding (that you can see in other threads) that
somehow OpenJDK has just now started declaring releases:

The notion of a "-ga" tag was added recently as a convenience mechanism
to help people  "identify snapshots of GA releases in Mercurial history without
having to know the build number of the GA release".

(see
https://mail.openjdk.java.net/pipermail/jdk8u-dev/2018-October/007940.html
for initial discussion).
To quote from there:
"For example, to obtain JDK 10.0.2 GA sources today, one issues the
`hg update -r jdk-10.0.2+13` command. With the proposed
enhancement, `hg update -r jdk-10.0.2-ga` could have been used."

[GA and other] Releases
existed long before this tag was added, and every [GA and other] Release
has a known tag number.

The "-ga" tag is a welcome addition, and makes it much easier (fewer steps)
to find the sources for a release, as well as programmatically watch
for ones to appear.

> 
> I've also replied separately to this thread (with a meeting request) but cut out the OpenJDK mailing lists as it's really the Debian distro list that we should be discussing this on.
> If folks feel otherwise, let me know and I'll CC these lists back in.
> 
> Cheers,
> Martijn
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> Florian