Java 7 for Mac OSX

[Mike Swingler]

On Feb 20, 2012, at 3:41 PM, Henri Gomez wrote:

>> Since you'll have to bundle the JRE in your app anyway, would it be sufficient to simply compile the JRE for 32-bit from the OpenJDK sources? Is there a reason you need Oracle's proprietary binary?
> 
> Mike, I'll be happy to know how to build a 32bits version of OpenJDK
> 7, since we're discussing OpenJDK7 not Oracle implementation.

True, OpenJDK should have clear switch in the Makefile to build for any architecture choice you want, and the wiki should document that. I don't recall who at Oracle switched the build to 64-only, but they should have left a switch to enable 32/64 building.

> About QA testing, if there is resources for Linux, Solaris and Windows
> 32/64 bits versions, I don't see why OSX should have a different
> treatment.
> 
> For 32/64 bits support let me say that support was dropped without any
> discussion on public lists.
> And I recall OpenJDK 7 is aimed to be an OSS project where everybody
> could have its own voice.
> 
> I built OpenJDK 7 for OSX for a least one year and I'm tired to see
> discussions or decisions taken under the hood.
> 
> Who take this decision ? Apple, Oracle, OpenJDK community ?

Oracle decides what they ship in their proprietary binary. The OpenJDK community decides what support exists in the source. Apple had no influence on either of these decisions, but I do not advise putting effort into a legacy architecture or a legacy OS if it comes at the cost of time, focus, and effort that needs to be spent on getting a GM-quality product out the door that works on the current OS and the mandatory architecture (x86_64).

So, the question is, how was the build default'ed to 64-bit only, and is that easily reversible by passing a flag into make? If not, we need a patch, and no matter what, it needs to be documented on the wiki.

Regards,
Mike Swingler
Apple Inc.