The future of OpenJDK6

[Alex Kasko]

Hello,

On 03/13/2013 09:02 PM, Andrew Haley wrote:
> Oracle ended public updates of JDK6 at the end of last month.  Many
> people seem to have concluded that the OpenJDK6 project will therefore
> end at the same time.  This is incorrect: OpenJDK6 will continue, but
> will be maintained by the community outside Oracle.
>
> This will require some infrastructure changes.  In particular, because
> we are to maintain OpenJDK6 outside Oracle we need a bug database to
> which we have full access.  At present, only people inside Oracle can
> create and update bug reports.  Oracle intend to rectify this
> situation sometime in the summer, but in the meantime we need
> something we can use.  I therefore propose to create an OpenJDK 6
> project on java.net and use a JIRA bug database there.  Once Oracle
> has a fully-open bug database we can transfer bugs to it.  While I'm
> aware that this is not ideal, I believe it is the only way that we can
> run this project independently of Oracle.
>
> A few questions I've been asked:
>
> * What will be the policy for future changes?
>
> OpenJDK 6 is a legacy project.  People only use it because they want
> long-term stability and compatibility.  Therefore, only changes that
> fix significant bugs should be made.  This is not a policy change from
> that discussed on http://openjdk.java.net/projects/jdk6/
Question about two features, that are not bugfixes, but may be useful in 
jdk6:

1) unlimited crypto support:
  - makefile patch from jdk7 [1]
  - maillist thread [2]

2) missed copyMemory method in sun.misc.Unsafe:
  - maillist thread [3]
  - patch that I'm using in my local jdk6 builds [4]
  - original patch that removed proper copyMemory method [5]

Are there any chances for them to be included into jdk6?

>
> * What about security updates?
>
> We'll back-port them as they arrive and commit them to OpenJDK 6.
> However, there may be some delay because of the effort and testing
> that back-porting requires.  Therefore, if you want the most secure
> and up-to-date version of OpenJDK, you should update to OpenJDK 7.
> We'll also fix any security bugs that are found in OpenJDK 6 alone,
> but again there may be some delay.
>
> * What about Windows/Mac/etc builds?
>
> I really don't know.  If the Windows/Mac/etc community want to get
> involved, then there will be updates for those platforms.  If not,
> there won't be.  It's up to them.
>
> * How long will this project continue for?
>
> The duration of support for OpenJDK 6 depends on how active its
> developers remain as part of the OpenJDK community.  As things stand
> today, Red Hat (my current employer) is taking the lead in supporting
> the OpenJDK 6 project.  It is conceivable that this project will be
> maintained beyond the duration of Red Hat's commitment.  That
> ultimately depends on the community.
>
> Finally, this is a significant moment for OpenJDK.  We look forward to
> working with the wider community of OpenJDK 6 users and developers on
> this project.
>
> Andrew.

[1] 
http://cr.openjdk.java.net/~andrew/100062/webrev.01/make/javax/crypto/Makefile.udiff.html
[2] 
http://mail.openjdk.java.net/pipermail/build-dev/2012-September/006798.html
[3] http://mail.openjdk.java.net/pipermail/jdk6-dev/2013-January/002836.html
[4] https://gist.github.com/alexkasko/5156174
[5] 
http://hg.openjdk.java.net/jdk6/jdk6/jdk/diff/39e8fe7a0af1/src/share/classes/sun/misc/Unsafe.java

-- 
Regards,
Alex Kasko