Review OSX universal mode patch

[David Holmes]

On 10/05/2012 7:47 PM, Henri Gomez wrote:
>> That seems wrong in itself. ARCHPROP is only supposed to hold the value to
>> use for the property os.arch. Anything that actually controls the build
>> "architecture" should be using one of the (many) other "arch" flags.
>
> When settings ARCHPROP to x86_64, -d32 flag is no more available.
>
> java -d32
> Error: This Java instance does not support a 32-bit JVM.
> Please install the desired version.
>
> It was a feature on Apple JVM and for many applications, there is just
> no need for a 64bits JVM.

This kind of launch duality is normally handled by the launcher (and was 
only supported on Solaris previously). I don't know how the osx launcher 
was "modified" to try and work with this.

>> I see. The reference above states:
>>
>> "First, the code must be compiled for each architecture (i386, ppc and
>> x86_64). Each compilation will result in a separate executable (binary)
>> file.
>> Then use lipo to merge them into a universal binary."
>>
>> If it were truly separate compilation then there would not be a problem. So
>> I assume that objective-c's dual build mode actual does two distinct
>> compilations using a single invocation. That is both somewhat clever and
>> truly horrible. :( Can you actually build hotspot using this dual mode? I
>> would expect we have a lot of build flags where the value changes depending
>> on whether 32-bit or 64-bit.
>
> I know, but there was a somewhat large effort on macosx-port to
> support that and my patches mainly reintroduce them.
>
>>> Question remains, could we expect a 32/64 bits JVM from OpenJDK for OSX ?
>>
>> Not a question I have any input on - sorry.
>
> Who could answer to such question ?

I'm not sure in what sense you are asking it - expect of whom? Henrik 
Stahl already made a statement on this:

https://blogs.oracle.com/henrik/entry/oracle_jdk_and_javafx_sdk

"What if I want a 32-bit JVM, or support for older PPC-based Macs?
There are community efforts based on OpenJDK to build JDK 7 for other 
configurations, easily found using your favorite search engine. We 
applaud these efforts! :-)"

Cheers,
David