The future of OpenJDK6

[Andrew Hughes]

----- Original Message -----
> 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]
> 

We already do this in IcedTea, but in a more brutal way which is why
it was never upstreamed.  I'd have to test out to see if the same small
fix is enough on 6 as it is on 7, because the crypto code relating to
this was simplified somewhat in 7.  The same fix may not work on 6.

> 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]
> 

If you read the thread, you'll see I already pretty much agreed this
would be ok, but I don't think I ever got chance to test it out.

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

They'd both be good candidates.

> >
> > * 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
> 

-- 
Andrew :)

Free Java Software Engineer
Red Hat, Inc. (http://www.redhat.com)

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