JDK 7 Updates: Policy Changes

[Andrew Haley]

I'm looking at the existing rules for JDK 7 Updates, and I can't see
much that I think should be changed.  There are some process rules which
we may not follow closely, and we should review them.

https://wiki.openjdk.java.net/display/jdk7u/JDK+7+Updates%3A+Ground+Rules

However, there are some issues we should dicuss.

Some of the content of the Wiki is out of date.  In particular, the
"JDK 7 Update Project Proposal Q & A" is somewhat misleading.  I have
lightly edited it, but as much of what it refers to has passed it
perhaps makes more sense to delete it or replace it with something
which reflects reality.

Such as:

Which bug database should we use?  The OpenJDK JIRA is the obvious
choice, but access is very limited.  For OpenJDK 6 updates we have
been using the database at https://java.net/jira/browse/OPENJDK6,
which is much more accessible.  Should we do the same for OpenJDK 7?

All of the Linux distros and some others use the IcedTea 2.x forests
rather than the source trees at
http://hg.openjdk.java.net/jdk7u/jdk7u-dev.  The IcedTea trees have a
lot of back-ported code, some of it essential.  Should we apply these
patches to the JDK 7 Updates tree?

Yes, because:

It would make the official 7 Updates trees much better, fix bugs,
improve performance, etc.

No, because:

Everyone (at least on GNU/Linux systems) uses the IcedTea 2.x forests
anyway.  It's a lot of work, and it's pointlessly moving furniture
around.

I think we should go with "Yes", after proper patch review.  The main
advantage, IMO, is that it would give us a chance to re-review these
patches and be sure that we still really need them.

I welcome your comments.

Andrew.