Mystery meat OpenJDK builds strike again

[Andrew John Hughes]

On 20/05/2019 17:47, Anssi Kolehmainen wrote:
> On Wed, 15 May 2019 18:49:55 +0000, Gil Tene wrote:
>> If anyone was wondering about the importance of having version strings
>> say
>> "EA" (or some other "THIS IS NOT a RELEASED VERSION" warning) on any
>> and all OpenJDK builds that are not an actual release build, the above
>> shows
>> you how bad things get when that practice is not followed.
> 
> Here's an outsider UI testing report for Java versioning:
> 
> Task: How can I find out which is the correct build for this version
> 
> 
> Google openjdk, go to openjdk.java.net, on frontpage click install.
> Instructions say "sudo apt-get install openjdk-8-jre" which then
> installs 8u212-b01. Success!
> 
> Go back to frontpage, click on "here" (as in Oracle builds), see only
> "8u212",
> don't want to do read through EULA so go back to openjdk frontpage.
> 
> Go through the tiny left navbar, click on "JDK 8"... This talks about
> 2014 so bummer.

This content is controlled by Oracle, so sadly we can't change any of
it. I certainly don't think non-OpenJDK builds should be listed on the
front page. However, you do omit the link between those two which
directs to jdk.java.net/12 and OpenJDK builds of the latest OpenJDK release.

I guess that's not much use if you're specifically looking for 8 and it
would be irresponsible to link to https://jdk.java.net/java-se-ri/8 as
the builds it links to are woefully outdated.

 Go to "JDK 8 Updates"... Pretty much empty page so
> "Consult Wiki for details".
> Font gets even tinier but I keep glancing. Releases list "Latest: 8u212"
> but only "GA" as build number. Click on "tag" which goes to hg[1] "Added
> tag jdk8u212-b02"... Success!
> [1]: http://hg.openjdk.java.net/jdk8u/jdk8u/rev/5218ef8ea6c3
> 
> Click on "Released", get to Github AdoptOpenJDK releases. Title says
> "8u212 GA" but thankfully tag shows "8u212-b03".

We can revise these, so suggestions welcome. I'm not sure about changing
the text size on the wiki, but I agree I also find it rather on the
small side.

> 
> Go to Azul web to look for releases and notice that there is grey
> overcast on whole page which prevents clicking on any links. Top bar
> says something about cookies but I close the page since it seems broken.
> (Thanks EU)

I'll leave Azul to comment on this.

> 
> Go back to OpenJDK frontpage and click on Mercurial. Click on jdk8, jdk
> and notice that everything is again 2014. Go back to jdk8u, go to jdk8u,
> go to jdk.
> Click on tags and be amazed of the UI. A bit hard to demonstrate in
> email but something like
> 
> jdk8u212-b04                                                    
> 01535393e060
> jdk8u212-ga                                                     
> ac2ef877d3e8
> jdk8u212-b03                                                    
> ac2ef877d3e8
> jdk8u212-b02                                                    
> acab6dbdd0b5
> jdk8u222-b00                                                    
> fcf246aa327f
> jdk8u212-b01                                                    
> fcf246aa327f
> 

Yes, this is not really much use from an end-user perspective.

> So b04 is the newest (and thus best?) but after decreasing resolution
> from 2K and applying ruler to display ga happens to have same node as b03.
> 
> Finally dig out mailing list archives, find the release announcement and
> look up in the URLs that say b03.
> 
> 
> Final tally is something like
> b01  1 hit
> b02  1 hit
> b03  3 hits
> b04  1 hit
> 
> So with some confidence it would be possible to say that b03 is the correct
> version :)

The release announcement (http://bitly.com/oj8u212) should be linked
from the wiki page. I'll fix that.

> 
> 
> It would be really much better if version number would include
> beta/pre/EA in the prereleases or then GA in the final version.
> 

Where do you mean?

Thanks,
-- 
Andrew :)

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

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