Re: [DotGNU]Re: Support Java for .GNU

[Barry Fitzgerald]

Martin Coxall wrote:
> 
> > (like M$ doing
> > some extremely Draconian tactic to destroy all
> > competition who use it, it could happen).
> 
> c# is now an open standard. Even if M$ break their implemenation, ours will
> still work! This is also not a problem. ECMA c#, CLR, BCL are now in the
> control of a standards body with a public domain licensing. Compare and
> contrast that with Sun's licensing scheme.
> 
> We have been handed c# on a plate by the ECMA. It would be crazy not to take
> it because some paranoid distrust of Microsoft gets in the way. Sun are the
> real threat here, please don't think they're not. Scott McNealy is a nasty
> piece of work who would do all in his power to stop us if it seemed we were
> running away with Java. I don't want to go there, and with c# as an open
> standard, we don't have to.
> 
> ---
> Martin
> ---
> 

Let's not forget that Sun runs it's company on the basis of the
proliferation of a proprietary OS on top of a proprietary platform - not
dissimilar to Apple.  This is not to say that Microsoft wouldn't do the
same if they could at this time, but it puts things in perspective.  Sun
is only our friend in the fact that they are the enemy to our enemy, so
to speak.  But, they are no different from our enemy.  The only reason
they ever GPL'ed anything was because that was the only way to leverage
market share at the time.  For Sun, the reasoning is purely strategic
and nothing more.  When given the chance, they'll take it away.  Just
see the debacle with the recent announcment that they were closing the
public Solaris source review.  I don't think I need to go on...

On top of that, the primary implementations of both Java and C# are
owned by proprietary companies.  If the fear is that MS can change the
API, how does choosing Java protect us from that danger?  In fact, if
you haven't noticed, Java's API changes regularly anyway - in the form
of new classes for new purposes.  One minute, your baseline code is
valuable.  The next minute, it's replaced by new classes.  This is not a
bad thing, it's just the way Java grows.  C does similar things through
the form of new libraries.  API change is just one of the rockier
aspects of programming.  No matter which proprietary language we choose
- it's a danger either way.  Having a spec helps because books can be
written to the public spec and review is possible.  So, support for C#
is a no-brainer (as long as it's legal) and if we need Java, I say we
modify an already existing Free implementation - like GCJ.

However, this is a VERY compelling reason NOT to use the Java bytecode.

        -Barry