* Christopher <ctubbsii-fedora(a)apache.org> [2014-10-31 14:55]:
On Fri, Oct 31, 2014 at 2:30 PM, Deepak Bhole
<dbhole(a)redhat.com> wrote:
* Christopher <ctubbsii-fedora(a)apache.org> [2014-10-31 14:02]:
[snip]
> There is no issue with -target 1.6; the issue was with strict source
> compatibility with 1.6. I can't recall the specifics (it had something to
do
> with generic type checking, because 1.7's javac can make better
inferences),
> but that's outside the scope of this issue. The main point, as it relates
here,
> is that there may not be strict compatibility between javac provided by
> different JDKs, even if javac makes a best effort attempt to parse older
> source. A more obvious problem is the lack of bootstrap classpaths for
older
> -source/-target, which is known to be likely to create compiled code that
is
> not capable of running in an older JVM (this doesn't matter if you're
> developing for the latest Fedora, but it matters if you're using the
latest
> Fedora to develop for other platforms, like RHEL or Android).
>
Ah, yeah not much we can do (with current setup) where the older rt.jar
is needed on bootstrap path :/
[snip]
Well, what we could do is rethink the policy about not packaging currently
supported JDKs, just because they are expected to not have further updates at
some future time. That policy's going to bite us anyway, if the pace of Java
ever reaches a point where a version of Java is released *and* EOL'd during the
same window (hypothetically, Java 8 is expected to EOL during F22, and Java 9
is expected to be released and EOL'd during F22; would that mean F22 cannot
include any Java version?).
Java 8 EOL is tentatively slated for March 2017, which is well after F22
EOL (assuming F22 is released in mid-2015). Furthermore, that is a
tentative date and is contingent on Java 9 being out in early 2016.
In general, Java N will be supported for upto a year after N+1 is out.
Personally, I like the idea of shipping the latest as default, and
the next
most recent (so long as it is currently supported) as available as an SDK/devel
package and just stop updating it when there aren't any more upstream updates
and drop it from the next release.
That is what would have happened had F21 not been delayed. If Fedora
sticks to a 6-month release cycle, we should be able to have one version
where N is the default and N-1 is provided for legacy, followed by
removal of N-1 in subsequent released.
FWIW, we have had Java 8 in Fedora since March 2013 (a stable
pre-release) and we are only now making it the default, almost 2 years
later. Given our finite resources, I don't think we are jumping the gun
here with making 8 the default. If someone in the community wants to
pick up and maintain 7, they are always welcome to do so.
Deepak