Date: Fri, 8 Sep 1995 19:27:36 -0700 (PDT) From: Jake Hamby <jehamby@lightside.com> To: "Jordan K. Hubbard" <jkh@time.cdrom.com> Cc: Stephen Hocking <sysseh@devetir.qld.gov.au>, hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Java - is anyone working on this at all? Message-ID: <Pine.AUX.3.91.950908191816.1025A-100000@covina.lightside.com> In-Reply-To: <4590.810587092@time.cdrom.com>
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On Fri, 8 Sep 1995, Jordan K. Hubbard wrote: > > As far Java, that would be VERY interesting to see some people start > > working on a port of this to FreeBSD. If all it needs is a working > > threads library, and pthreads would be adequate to the task, why not > > start a porting team? The important thing is that it has to be a SERIOUS > > effort in order for Sun to give out the source code to HotJava, so if > > anyone wants to start a HotJava porting team, you can count me in... > > I've already started one, and I already have the source code here. > However, time constraints currently prohibit a more active involvement > on my part. > > Jordan > I just downloaded the source code to HotJava, and it's a pretty big mess... I can't even get it to compile under SOLARIS using GCC (Sun used their commercial SunPro compiler to build it)! To give people an idea of some of the surface issues that have to be dealt with before even getting into the tricky problems with synchronization, threads, audio support, etc: 1) The Makefiles are designed for Solaris make, and don't work properly with GNU make or Berkeley make. 2) You must have a preexisting Java compiler in order to bootstrap (i.e. byte-compile) the Java code. This means hosting part of the development under Windows NT/95 or Solaris to do this portion of the compile until the FreeBSD native Java compiler is built. 3) Under Solaris, the GCC built version of the java header-file compiler 'javah' core-dumped when trying to compile a certain header file. I'll have to look into these issues myself, but it is certainly not a weekend porting project! I'd like to know what you've figured out so far, Jordan. Also, I need to buy a copy of Motif anyway, but HotJava requires that as well. I'd like to use SWiM Motif 2.0 since Motif 2.0 will link properly with X11R6 libraries, but even though Motif 2.0 is 99% backwards compatible with Motif 1.2.4, there are still a couple of porting issues there. Not to mention getting pthreads working properly, and patching the audio code and other Solaris-specific portions. I'd really like to see a FreeBSD version, though, because that would lend itself very easily to a SunOS version, or even a Linux version (after all, Linux also has pthreads, an identical audio API, and GCC). Anyway, is anyone else interested in this? ---Jake Hamby jehamby@lightside.com
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