Open vs Closed java on linux (was: Re: [Nottingham] What distro?)

[Michael Erskine]

On Thursday 25 May 2006 09:26, Martin Garton wrote:
> I haven't tried netbeans, but last time I tried eclipse (on FC4 I think)
> it ran slightly slower than under sun java, but started up faster.  It
> also appears to be highly dependent on gcj version and gnu classpath
> version.  It might be worth trying again.

You ain't joking! Eclipse under gcj is grossly slow and just plain does not 
work for debugging. And the answer in the mailing lists? Just use the Sun 
JRE! 

> Progress of open java is interesting.  One reason that open java has
> taken (and still is taking) longer to progress on linux than open .NET
> is that there is closed java available and people choose that by default
> because it's more convenient, so the open implementations don't get much
> testing.  If everyone chose an open implementation (as they are forced
> to do for .NET on linux) and took a few minutes to report bugs if it
> didn't work for them, we would have a better faster more robust open
> java in no time.

Like a lot of people, when lucky enough to be presented with a choice, and 
when I just want to get on with the job, I tend to go for whatever works 
first or is least broken.

Whilst it's true that bug reporting might result in bugs being fixed, I expect 
that a vague bug report of "gcj is too slow to run eclipse" will just be 
ignored or be followed up with posts for people with more time: "do this", 
"try this", "we need this obscure info", "use the CVS version, everybody else 
does", "just rebuild your kernel with these obscure flags", "delete this part 
of your install and see if it's any better" -- really, this is what you'll 
get. And while there are people out there who have the time and expertise to 
do all these things, there are many others who just want to get on with the 
job. Like you say, with .NET nobody had a choice but with Java there's a 
working alternative. As an analogue, do you think people will wait for a 
legal DeCSS to play their DVDs? (<-- rhetorical :) )

Regards,
Michael Erskine.


-- 
"Regardless of the legal speed limit, your Buick must be operated at
speeds faster than 85 MPH (140kph)."

1987 Buick Grand National owners manual.




		
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