Re: Status of GNU Classpath

[Guillermo Rodriguez Garcia <guille.rodriguez@gmail.com>]

El mié, 8 feb 2023 a las 11:50, Ricardo Wurmus (<rekado@elephly.net>) escribió:
> > Hi Ricardo,
> >
> >> > I can see that development halted around 2016 (from the commit logs of
> >> > the official git repo), but would like to know if someone else is
> >> > still using GNU Classpath.
> >>
> >> GNU Guix is using GNU Classpath in the bootstrap path from C to modern JDKs.
> […]
> > I understand that the above already does the job, and that GNU
> > Classpath is not used in Guix anymore once OpenJDK is built. Is this
> > correct?
>
> Classpath does not end up being used in applications at *runtime*, but
> it remains part of the bootstrap chain forever.  In Guix we merely cache
> build artifacts, but the build inputs (instructions and the closure of
> all sources) are never fully divorced from the build outputs.  In other
> words: we cannot ever *not* build Classpath if we want to build
> OpenJDK.  Users only avoid building out the full bootstrap chain by
> downloading substitutes for a local build — but the builds themselves
> must happen somewhere (in this case on the build farm).
>
> We also rebuild the complete bootstrap chain whenever its inputs
> change.  For Classpath and the OpenJDK this would happen, for example,
> when we use a new default C compiler, or any of the input libraries or
> tools change.
>
> We will need to continue to be able to build Classpath and all of the
> other early Java things for as long as Java packages should be buildable
> by Guix.  Over the years this may require minor tweaks and patches.

Thank you Ricardo.

Given the specific needs of your use case I would like to ask the following:

Would Guix be interested in new releases of GNU Classpath? Or are the
current releases (0.93 + 0.99 + devel) "good enough" for what you
need?

Thanks,

Guillermo Rodriguez Garcia
guille.rodriguez@gmail.com