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Native Java JDK 1.3.1 Support For FreeBSD

ap writes "Justin T. Gibbs, of the FreeBSD Foundation, announced today the availability of a native binary release of the Java JDK 1.3.1 for FreeBSD. He also mentioned that more attention will now be focused on providing a release of the 1.4.x JDK. Such developments should allow for FreeBSD to be better suited for enterprise uses."

231 comments

  1. Somewhere, in a noisy hospital room by Lane.exe · · Score: 4, Funny
    [a man in a white coat stands over the BSD devil, holding defibrillators]

    "CLEAR!"

    [loud zapping noise]

    "Ladies and gentlenerds... BSD is no longer dying."

    Someone had to say it

    --
    IAALS.
    1. Re:Somewhere, in a noisy hospital room by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This attempt at humor has been posted to
      the net using how many bsd tcp stacks?
      Travelling through how many bsd firewalls?

      Make jokes, linux boy. We're too busy coding
      the next generation of free tools that leenux
      will once agains "SCO" over to the kernel tree.

      PS. -- To Moderators calling this a flame:
      WTF was the original post? Not a flame?
      Show some common sense.

    2. Re:Somewhere, in a noisy hospital room by Lane.exe · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      I made this post on OS X, through a BSD firewall. It wasn't a flame, it was a joke. Derrrrrrrp.

      --
      IAALS.
    3. Re:Somewhere, in a noisy hospital room by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      We're too busy coding the next generation of free tools that leenux will once agains "SCO" over to the kernel tree

      Well, who told you to choose a license like BSD?

      Consider our action as truly liberating your code. No longer can it be ripped off to another products.

    4. Re:Somewhere, in a noisy hospital room by bsd_usr · · Score: 2, Funny

      s/can/can't/

    5. Re:Somewhere, in a noisy hospital room by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      BSD you grow in the ghetto, living second rate
      And your eyes will sing a song of deep hate.
      The places you play and where you stay
      Looks like one great big alley way.
      You'll admire all the numberbook takers,
      Thugs, BSD pimps and pushers, and the big money makers.
    6. Re:Somewhere, in a noisy hospital room by slashvar · · Score: 1

      I'm afraid I've got another one for you : linux is already died...

      --
      Marwan Burelle co-Head of EPITA's System Laboratory
    7. Re:Somewhere, in a noisy hospital room by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Fact: *BSD is dying
  2. Quick! by Glock27 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Time for the BSD Babe post again... ;-)

    --
    Galileo: "The Earth revolves around the Sun!"
    Score: -1 100% Flamebait
    1. Re:Quick! by cperciva · · Score: 1

      Time for the BSD Babe post again

      Her name is Ceren Ercen; last I heard, she doesn't wear latex any more; and since this is a front page story, I'm not going to provide any links to pictures, but they can be easily found via google.

    2. Re:Quick! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, she doesn't.
      No, you don't.
      And I certainly wasn't trolling. I was just stating the truth!

    3. Re:Quick! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I get my kicks from giving head for hours and hours.

      Damn it boy! You were born with the wrong gender, I tell ya!

  3. This is a joke ... right? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What about developement for MacOSX, can't that be used?

    1. Re:This is a joke ... right? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

      MacOSX may have used BSD code, but they are very different operating systems.

    2. Re:This is a joke ... right? by jared_hanson · · Score: 1

      Apples may use the same letters of the genetic code as oranges, but they are very different fruits.

      To the moderator who modded the parent post informative: May I be granted the same?

      --
      -- Fighting mediocrity one bad post at a time.
    3. Re:This is a joke ... right? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      -1, "In Soviet Russia," joke found in sig.

    4. Re:This is a joke ... right? by jared_hanson · · Score: 1

      -47, Comment replying to sig.

      --
      -- Fighting mediocrity one bad post at a time.
  4. bout damn time by SHEENmaster · · Score: 3, Informative

    but "binary only" probably means "x86-32 binary based upon libs from FreeBSD 3.1"

    I'm still waiting for a PowerPC(G3/750cx) build of J2DK 1.4.1. Sun won't offer it, blackdown won't offer it, and IBM's build just promptly segaults when run.

    --
    You can't judge a book by the way it wears its hair.
    1. Re:bout damn time by KrispyKringle · · Score: 3, Informative

      Apparently the whole point is merely that Sun is now offering a license for the FreeBSD binary, which allows the FreeBSD team to distribute a binary pkg. There are a number of jdks available in the ports collection for you to build yourself; I have no intention of changing the setup on my FreeBSD machine, since the sdk I compiled myself works fine.

    2. Re:bout damn time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not for Linux on those processors, but it is available for MacOS, which is based on FreeBSD.

    3. Re:bout damn time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who in their right mind would use 3.1? They probably built it from the port which doesn't require compatibility with friggin' 3.1. Unfortunately, I've learned that they can't get the package to work with 5.1 yet because of a binary
      incompatibility, probably having to do with the import of GCC 3.3.1. So far, 3.3.1 has been a bottomless cess pool of problems. Hope the GNU compiler group gets their act together soon.

    4. Re:bout damn time by pballsim · · Score: 1

      The reason why Sun Microsystems won't offer a release for Apple is because Steve Jobs said that Apple will take care of it. This was on a press release from apple on their site (http://www.apple.com) a few years ago. However, it is no longer there.

      This was initially a problem for a project I started that was supposed to use Java 1.3 and there was no Mac support, but we had to support it anyways (not fun to integrate 1.1 & 1.3 Java code).

    5. Re:bout damn time by cozman69 · · Score: 1

      fucking troll

    6. Re:bout damn time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Take it easy. Try to remember this simple fact:
      *BSD is dying
  5. I must point out that by Krapangor · · Score: 0, Troll

    such binary releases of virtual machines would much easier if the FreeBSD development would decide to fully embrace a microkernel architecture for FreeBSD.

    --
    Owner of a Mensa membership card.
    1. Re:I must point out that by meshko · · Score: 1

      You didn't really have to point that out. No, really.

      --
      I passed the Turing test.
    2. Re:I must point out that by nutznboltz · · Score: 1

      If you want a microkernel FreeBSD you know where to find it.

  6. Re:who cares by Diaspar · · Score: 1

    not specifically this, but OpenBSD i've ran for a while and it's been extremely good to me. There are a number of people i know who prefer *bsd's over linux

  7. Question for BSD folks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can you run BSD on AMD Opteron?

    1. Re:Question for BSD folks by djeaux · · Score: 1
      The announcement states that:

      The FreeBSD Project, a volunteer organization, provides a full 4.4BSD-Lite2 based operating system for the 32 and 64-bit Intel and AMD platforms and the 64-bit Alpha and UltraSPARC platforms.

      The words "64-bit ... AMD platforms" suggests that it will run on Opteron. Now, whether it or not it is "really" 64-bit or 32-bit while running on Opteron is a question I'll leave for somebody who knows... ;-)

      --
      "Obviously, I'm not an IBM computer any more than I'm an ashtray" (Bob Dylan)
    2. Re:Question for BSD folks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      dumbass.

      it runs 64-bit on amd64.

    3. Re:Question for BSD folks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      I believe the guy had an honest question, troll. Just because an OS can be run on 64-bit hardware doesn't mean that the OS itself is 64-bit. You can run WinXP (God forbid!) on AMD64 but that doesn't make WinXP a 64-bit OS. Hell, you can run a C-64 emulator on all manner of platforms, but it's still 8-bit.

      Next time you feel compelled to call someone a dumbass, you can go look in the mirror. You can find one of those in the boy's restroom on your way from algebra to U.S. history class.

    4. Re:Question for BSD folks by nutznboltz · · Score: 2, Informative
  8. Here's that BSD babe post by rgm3 · · Score: 4, Informative

    For those of you wondering wtf he's talking about, a cute chick in red plastic dressed as the BSD devil got lauded at some convention somewhere.

    Here's the link to the post, lots of pictures.

    1. Re:Here's that BSD babe post by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The BSD girls have been at several conventions, if I'm not mistaken.

    2. Re:Here's that BSD babe post by tlianza · · Score: 1

      Sadly, we can't help but have mixed emotions about the SCO babe these days.

    3. Re:Here's that BSD babe post by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For those of you wondering wtf he's talking about, a cute chick in red plastic dressed as the BSD devil got lauded at some convention somewhere.
      Here's the link to the post, lots of pictures.


      Either that link is bad, or Slashdot itself has been Slashdotted by everyone clicking on it.

  9. Re:Fine but by ignipotentis · · Score: 1

    define support

    --
    Don't waste time... procrastinate now!
  10. I must correct. by Krapangor · · Score: 0, Troll

    Despite popular belief, a defibrillators doesn't raise the dead.
    A defibrillator only helps people with acute ventricular fibrillation and keeps them from dying.

    --
    Owner of a Mensa membership card.
    1. Re:I must correct. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't defibrillators kill (well stop the heart) of someone dieing, alowing the heart to start back up again? (It has been a long time sense my medic training)

      Either way, when the heart is fucked up (I'll assume you are correct wuth acute ventricular fibrillation), you are "dieing". Then someone gets the defibrillator, and zap your no longer dieing.

  11. Re:who cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No, no 14 year-old like yourself in running this OS.
    So go download some mp3's and remember to take your ritalin.

  12. Re:Fine but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As far as I know Windows have had native support for Java for ages. Actuallyy since Microsoft and Sun signed an agreement about this back in 1997 that deals with this issue. So the fact that FreeBSD got this is fine but not exactly revolutionary.

    so, just as the US went to the moon (conspiracy theories aside) 30 years ago, its no big deal that China, India and whoever else is making a big push for the moon this decade?

    Just because something may have been done before, it doesn't make it irrelevant that it has been done again.

  13. Stupid Question by boris_the_hacker · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Ok, this is probably a stupid question that could probably be solved by a little googling, but I shall ask anyway, does this mean that Java can finally be run on FreeBSD or is this just a native port of a JVM (where previous JVM's have been running in some form of emulation) ?

    Is it only now that FreeBSD people can run Java code ?

    Sorry if this is stupid but I have never played with FreeBSD.

    --
    chris at darkrock dot co dot uk
    http colon slash slash www dot darkrock dot co dot uk
    1. Re:Stupid Question by moderators_are_w*nke · · Score: 5, Informative

      FreeBSD (actually, AFAIK, all the BSDs) have had native Java for ages as part of the ports system, but because of Sun's licencing, you had to compile it yourself, which can take some time. A binary release just makes it easier for some users to run native Java.

      FreeBSD (and probable other BSDs) can also run an emulated Linux Java virtual machine.

      Mark

      --
      "XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve your problem, use more." - Anonymous Coward
    2. Re:Stupid Question by boris_the_hacker · · Score: 1

      Awesome, thank you very much :)

      It did strike me odd that if this was the first outing of Java, that FreeBSD was so popular as the base system for web applications.

      It now makes perfect sense :)

      --
      chris at darkrock dot co dot uk
      http colon slash slash www dot darkrock dot co dot uk
    3. Re:Stupid Question by lederhosen · · Score: 1

      I think you are all wrong.

      BSD* has no java port.

      BSD* does no run an emulated Linux Java virtual machine. Instead it run it as a normal process
      and maps Linux calls to simular BSD calls.

    4. Re:Stupid Question by moderators_are_w*nke · · Score: 1

      Thats not how it looks from here:

      bash-2.05b$ ls /usr/ports/java | grep jdk
      jdk11
      jdk11-doc
      jdk12
      jdk12-doc
      jdk13
      jd k13-doc
      jdk14
      jdk14-doc
      linux-blackdown-jdk12
      linux-blackdown-jdk13
      linux-blackdown-jdk14
      linu x-ibm-jdk13
      linux-ibm-jdk14
      linux-sun-jdk12
      lin ux-sun-jdk13
      linux-sun-jdk14

      bash-2.05b$ cd /usr/ports/java/jdk14
      bash-2.05b$ cat pkg-descr
      This is the latest patchset from the Java 2 FreeBSD porting project. This
      port allows you to easily build a native JDK1.4.1 for FreeBSD.

      Please note that due to the current Sun licensing policy the resulting binaries
      can't be distributed and you are only permitted to use/hack it personally.
      Due to the same reasons you have to manually fetch the source code and patchset
      for FreeBSD.

      --
      "XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve your problem, use more." - Anonymous Coward
    5. Re:Stupid Question by markv242 · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Actually, even the compiled-with-patches version of the 1.3 JDK was listed as not being production ready. Therefore, probably not safe to use for your applications.

      If this is truly production ready 1.3 JDK (1.3, guys? Surely you could have gotten 1.4 done in the same time) then FreeBSD is once again a serious Java hosting environment.

    6. Re:Stupid Question by Pieroxy · · Score: 1

      Since when the JDK 1.4 is "production ready" ? Last time I checked, very few company dared deploy on a 1.4.x JDK....

    7. Re:Stupid Question by JDizzy · · Score: 3, Informative

      I think you are all wrong.
      Reminds me of the town fool. Everyone knows your a fool, but when you open your mouth you simultaniously remove any doubt.

      BSD* has no java port.
      Yes it does.

      BSD* does no run an emulated Linux Java virtual machine. Instead it run it as a normal process
      and maps Linux calls to simular BSD calls.

      FreeBSD has a linux emulation layer, for running linux applications, and so the linux apps think they are talking to a linux kernel and userland. FreeBSD can, and many people do, run the linux JDK under emulation. In fact, to compile the native version of JDK on FreeBSD you have to boot-strap it with the linux version (java requires java to install). Afterwards folks can use the native version to build the native BSD version again. BTW - the process of mapping linux syscalls to their BSD counter part is called emulation.

      --
      It isn't a lie if you belive it.
    8. Re:Stupid Question by aled · · Score: 1

      Since the last time you checked.

      --

      "I think this line is mostly filler"
    9. Re:Stupid Question by AstroPup · · Score: 1

      FreeBSD has a linux emulation layer, for running linux applications

      No, it doesn't.

      "Yeah, but is this really emulation? No. It is an ABI implementation, not an emulation. There is no emulator (or simulator, to cut off the next question) involved." FreeBSD Handbook

    10. Re:Stupid Question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You now have yet another choice when approaching the task of making your FreeBSD box compile and run java. You can install and run the linux jdk environment through emulation, use linux java to build a native jdk and then uninstall the linux jdk (and then do upgrade builds with your native build of jdk from then on), OR (if you're running 4.x freebsd) download this precompiled binary. You can also get the jvm-only versions of all three.

    11. Re:Stupid Question by JDizzy · · Score: 1
      Funny how that link is:

      http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books /h andbook/linuxemu-advanced.html

      Notice the "emu" in the linkage?


      So why is it sometimes called ``Linux emulation''? To make it hard to sell FreeBSD! Really, it is because the historical implementation was done at a time when there was really no word other than that to describe what was going on; saying that FreeBSD ran Linux binaries was not true, if you did not compile the code in or load a module, and there needed to be a word to describe what was being loaded--hence ``the Linux emulator''.


      I think that pretty much says it all. It is, for lack of a better word, an emulator even thought it's just manipulating of the she-bang (magic number) at the begining of the binary.
      --
      It isn't a lie if you belive it.
    12. Re:Stupid Question by znaps · · Score: 1

      Of course JDK 1.4 is production ready. What you're getting confused by is that many application servers still only run on the JDK 1.3.x

      But not all. JBoss, for instance, runs on the latest 1.4.2 JRE.

    13. Re:Stupid Question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      FreeBSD has had native Java for quite a while, but it was only available in source code form.

      Additionally, it has always been possible to run Java programs using Linux binary distributions.

      Currently, I have JDK 1.4.1 installed on my FreeBSD box, but installing it involved the following steps:

      - Get a Linux binary JDK (which runs just fine under Linux emulation)
      - Get the JDK 1.4.1 source code
      - Get BSD patches to JDK 1.4.1
      - Bootstrap the native JDK 1.4.1 using the Linux binary
      version

      It works just fine and is automated by the ports system (except for actually fetching the distributions because they require manually logging in to Sun's site, which really sucks).

      However, just getting a binary distribution would be faster; bootstrapping the JDK takes a long time and consumes a lot of disk space.

    14. Re:Stupid Question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Fact: *BSD is dying

      It is well known that *BSD is dying. Ever hapless *BSD is mired in an irrecoverable and mortifying tangle of fatal trouble. It is perhaps anybody's guess as to which *BSD is the worst off of an admittedly suffering *BSD community. The numbers continue to decline for *BSD but FreeBSD may be hurting the most. Look at the numbers. The loss of user base for FreeBSD continues in a head spinning downward spiral.

      OpenBSD leader Theo states that there are 7000 users of OpenBSD. How many users of BSD are there? Let's see. The number of OpenBSD versus NetBSD posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7000/5 = 1400 NetBSD users. BSD/OS posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of NetBSD posts. Therefore there are about 700 users of BSD/OS. A recent article put FreeBSD at about 80 percent of the *BSD market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 FreeBSD users. This is consistent with the number of FreeBSD Usenet posts.

      Due to the troubles of Walnut Creek, abysmal sales and so on, FreeBSD went out of business and was taken over by BSDI who sell another troubled OS. Now BSDI is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.

      All major marketing surveys show that *BSD has steadily declined in market share. *BSD is extremely sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If *BSD is to survive at all it will be among hobbyist dilettante dabblers. In truth, for all practical purposes *BSD is already dead. It is a dead man walking.

      Fact: *BSD is dying

    15. Re:Stupid Question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Due to the troubles of Walnut Creek, abysmal sales and so on, FreeBSD went out of business and was taken over by BSDI who sell another troubled OS. Now BSDI is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.

      All major marketing surveys show that *BSD has steadily declined in market share. *BSD is extremely sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If *BSD is to survive at all it will be among hobbyist dilettante dabblers. In truth, for all practical purposes *BSD is already dead. It is a dead man walking.

  14. Just to be clear by Moridineas · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This doesn't mean that you previously couldn't run Java on FreeBSD. You could previously built a native java binary (though you needed to install the Linux JDK first) or you could run the Linux JDK directly.

    Now the FreeBSD binaries are certified by Sun (which apparently is hard as anything to get done) and they can be distributed directly as a binary.

    1. Re:Just to be clear by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do we need Stallman to come to your house with a flute to teach you the difference between the Linux kernel and software written to run with Linux?

    2. Re:Just to be clear by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Just to be clear, this does not work on newer versions of FreeBSD only 4.8.
      If you have 5.0 or more reccent, your are SOL.

    3. Re:Just to be clear by captredballs · · Score: 1



      Yes, his address is:

      6200 Courtney Campbell Causeway, Suite 480, Tampa, FL 33607

      --

      I suppose I'm not too threatening, presently, but wait till I start Nautilus
    4. Re:Just to be clear by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A lot? Name them. I'm OS/X on desktop and don't give a rats ass about inferior Linux desktops. On the server side I can only think of Java.

    5. Re:Just to be clear by essiescreet · · Score: 1

      "Now the FreeBSD binaries are certified by Sun (which apparently is hard as anything to get done) and they can be distributed directly as a binary. "

      So, should it be easier, and then we can have a bunch of shitty JDK's out there. Now, I'm sure someone will mod this as a flame, but I work for a company that does a lot of java development, and if there were not reliable Java JDK's (if they were "easier" to certify), that would really really suck.

    6. Re:Just to be clear by Moridineas · · Score: 1

      Wow talk about reading something into nothing... I was merely reporting that the process of certification is not easy--and it took a lot of effort from a lot of good programmers. Did I say ANYWHERE that it should be easy? Did I even imply anywhere that the certification program was bad and should be changed?

      Also, why did you put "easier" in quotes the way you did ?

  15. It's rediculous actually by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why has it taken so long.

  16. Native Threads Support? by slagdogg · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Does this version actually include support for native threads? IIRC, there has been a "native" version of the JDK for FreeBSD for a while now but it only supported green threads when I last looked.

    --
    (Score:-1, Wrong)
    1. Re:Native Threads Support? by lscotte · · Score: 1

      Good question. This is one of several reasons I switched from FreeBSD to Linux. I had serious performance issues using a green-thread JDK for J2EE development. May seem a petty reason, but after being a big FreeBSD support since 2.0, I haven't looked back after switching to Gentoo Linux.

      --
      This post is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
    2. Re:Native Threads Support? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unfortunately, BSD support for threads needs catching up. Last I checked it lacks kernel support. Could have changed though. I'd be glad to hear if it did.

    3. Re:Native Threads Support? by tgreiner · · Score: 2, Informative

      Both the JDK 1.3 and 1.4 ports feature the HotSpot virtual machine which requires native threads. So the answer to your question is YES.

    4. Re:Native Threads Support? by Wastl · · Score: 4, Informative
      As far as I know you can have native threads with the JDK 1.3 port and above if you are running under FreeBSD 5.1. Here the message from the Makefile:

      "You must have a version of FreeBSD later than 4.7-STABLE February 2003 or 5-CURRENT February 2003 to use either native threads or HotSpot."

      However, native threads do not work for the Java plugin in Mozilla yet.

      Sebastian

    5. Re:Native Threads Support? by meshko · · Score: 1

      From what you are quoting native threads are supported in both 4-STABLE and 5.1. FreeBSD later than 4.7-STABLE includes 4.8-RELEASE and all of the STABLE branch after February 2003.
      I think you are also wrong about the plugin. I beleive that plugin *only* supports native threading, so if it works at all, it must be using native threads.

      --
      I passed the Turing test.
    6. Re:Native Threads Support? by meshko · · Score: 1

      The 5 branch has real kernel threads (kse). Some version of jdk (I beleive it is 1.4.x) was build and successfully run on 5-CURRENT using the new threads library which uses kse. When JDK gets released for 5-CURRENT it will probably be using the real kernel threads.
      It's also worth mentioning that even though the 4-STABLE threads are "fake" userland threads, in my experience they have been more reliable and scalable that the heavy weight LinuxThreads based on light weight processes (I just love that combination).

      --
      I passed the Turing test.
    7. Re:Native Threads Support? by laffer1 · · Score: 1

      I am running JDK 1.4 patchlevel 3 on my FreeBSD 4.8 Release p3 server. It is compiled as native threads. Patchlevel 3 was the first release that worked for me with native threads, but required a command line option to make to build. (going from memory as i've had it since march) Before I upgraded, I ran 1.3.1 p7 for a time with green threads.

      Linux versions of the JDK will run fine as root, but tend to crash with certain apps and services. Tomcat is known to crash with a linux jdk as a non root user.

      The Native build has problems running JSSE (sun ssl library) on jdk 1.4.

      For those interested in Java on FreeBSD, I suggest subscribing the the freebsd-java list on freebsd.org. You could also search the bug database for the many problems with the current releases.

  17. Sorry for my butchering by Exiler · · Score: 5, Funny

    Kernel collector: Bring out your dead!

    Troll: Here's one.

    Kernel collector: Ninepence.

    BSD:I'm not dead!

    Kernel collector: What?

    Troll: Nothing. Here's your ninepence.

    BSD: I'm not dead!

    Kernel collector:'Ere. He says he's not dead!

    Troll:Yes, he is.

    BSD:I'm not!

    Kernel collector:He isn't?

    Troll:Well, he will be soon. He's very outdated.

    BSD:I'm getting updates!

    Troll: No, you're not. You'll be stone dead in a moment.

    Kernel collector: Oh, I can't take him like that. It's against regulations.

    BSD: I don't want to go off the net!

    Troll: Oh, don't be such a microkernel.

    Kernel collector: I can't take him.

    BSD: I feel stable!

    Troll:Well, do us a favour.

    Kernel collector: I can't.

    Troll: Well, can you hang around a couple of processes? He won't be long.

    Kernel collector:No, I've got to go to Microsofts. They've lost 4 today.

    Troll:Well, when's your next round?

    Kernel collector:Thursday.

    BSD:I think I'll go for a compile.

    Troll:You're not fooling anyone, you know. Look. Isn't there something you can do?

    BSD: [singing]
    I have Java! I have Java!

    *Twack*
    Troll: Ah, thanks very much.

    Kernel collector: Not at all. See you on Thursday.

    Your comment has too few characters per line (currently 14.9).Your comment has too few characters per line (currently 14.9).Your comment has too few characters per line (currently 14.9).

    --
    Banaaaana!
    1. Re:Sorry for my butchering by Malcontent · · Score: 1

      LOL. Man I haven't laughed that hard in a while.

      Thanks.

      --

      War is necrophilia.

    2. Re:Sorry for my butchering by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      bsd is dying

  18. FreeBSD java speed? how is it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Looking at various comparisons over the last few months it looks as though Java runs faster under linux, even using linux emulation under FreeBSD is quicker than the native JVM.

    I hope this brings FreeBSD up to speed.

    1. Re:FreeBSD java speed? how is it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hate to burst your bubble but it is still pretty slow. Not that Java is fast, but this JVM is still real slow. Put it this way, the FreeBSD JVM would finish last in any benchmark.

  19. Re:*EIGHT* Story Icons? by donutz · · Score: 1

    This story has 8 story icons associated with it.

    They shoulda thrown in the "Games" icon too, since after all, there are some Java games out there. :)


    Nah, skip the games, they should probably add the Caldera/SCO icon though, what with SCO presenting BSD code snippets. And SCO will probably be suing xBSD anyway since now with a native Java JDK release, people will have less a reason to stick with Linux, and tha tmeans fewer SCO licenses extorted^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H sold there hasn't been a SCO story in how long?...

  20. Re:who cares by worm+eater · · Score: 5, Informative

    Does anyone run this OS?

    Yes. Yahoo! uses FreeBSD for all of its shared hosting. Other hosting businesses such as Verio, Infospace and Datasync also have very large deployments of FreeBSD (each of the hosts I named have over 100,000 active sites running on FreeBSD).

    The information in this post came from here.

    --
    Maybe partying will help...
  21. Native Java! Now FreeBSDers ... by Chromodromic · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... can process Java code that's not a bit slower than native Java on Windows.

    Orrr ... They can just stick with mod_perl or WebWare for Python or PHP or some other truly open source technology that isn't controlled by forty-thousand corporations all with an invested business interest in competing with Microsoft.

    I swear to God, every time I hear a phrase like "suited to the Enterprise" it's accompanied by a Java, Microsoft, or IBM article, all of which have a huge interest in convincing you that in order to sell a widget on the Internet you've absolutely, no-question, gotta have nineteen layers of logical infrastructure completely independent of each other otherwise your site's gonna go down and boy are you going to pay. In the meantime, sites like Yahoo run their e-commerce off of Lisp, PHP is their standardizing implementation language, Amazon is hiring Perl programmers, and Slashdot, a site which regularly DOSes other sites by virtue of it's power to link, runs on Perl.

    But if you really want to be successful YOU NEED JAVA FOR THE "ENTERPRISE". Only with Java can you take half the time to express what takes twice as much typing to code. Or maybe by "Enterprise" what everyone really means is the USS Enterprise? Maybe that's why it could max out to warp 7.

    --
    Chr0m0Dr0m!C
    1. Re:Native Java! Now FreeBSDers ... by butane_bob2003 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Um, those layers of logical infrastructure and indirection are called interfaces and they are there to provide abstractions and encapsulation. Which can be very nice in large systems. I started with bash, perl, c, and PHP, but for rapid development of enterprise apps, Java won out. The only thing _close to J2EE is .NET, which is a complete rip off of J2EE (and a complete mess in places). I've worked on web systems hacked together in Perl using a bunch of CPAN modules, none of it comes close to a real development framework. Not to bash perl or anything, but just because you can do something cool using two non-descriptive characters does not mean you should. I dont get paid for using less keystrokes.

      --


      TallGreen CMS hosting
    2. Re:Native Java! Now FreeBSDers ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      I am glad for BSD folks, but SUN released 1.3.1 at may 2001. With such a seriously long lag no serious Java developer would consider FreeBSD as suitable platform for Java apps.

    3. Re:Native Java! Now FreeBSDers ... by Pieroxy · · Score: 3, Informative

      At the contrary, it is a perfect opportunity.

      They're just granting the license for FreeBSD, nothing else. Now the other JDKs will come in very quickly and in no time, FreeBSD will be an "official" Java platform.

      It doesn't mean anything technically, since all JDKs are supported natively for a long time, btu in terms of marketting, it is a major step.

  22. enterprise use by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Such developments should allow for FreeBSD to be better suited for enterprise uses."

    Since when did an operating system have to lower it's bar to become suitable for enterprise uses?

    1. Re:enterprise use by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Since when did an operating system have to lower it's bar to become suitable for enterprise uses?

      There's this new thing called viability. you should try it some time... don't get too high though.

    2. Re:enterprise use by Doomdark · · Score: 1

      And exactly how is FreeBSD lowering its bar here? Allowing easier use of one of dominant modern programming languages?

      --
      I like paying taxes. With them I buy civilization -- Oliver Wendell Holmes
  23. Re:-1, flamebait (Which is 5, the truth) by Quill_28 · · Score: 0

    You are an utter idiot.

  24. 1.3.1?? by John+Seminal · · Score: 3, Interesting

    That is an older version of the JVM which will be missing some classes that are being used by Java programmers. So much for being up to date.

    BTW, why are they only now getting around to offering the Java SDK on BSD? Is there something more difficult about running Java on BSD than on another OS like linux?

    --

    Rosco: "If brains were gunpowder, Enos couldn't blow his nose."

    1. Re:1.3.1?? by __past__ · · Score: 4, Informative
      Is there something more difficult about running Java on BSD than on another OS like Linux?
      Yes, there is. BSD isn't hyped, and Sun doesn't sell computers with BSD preinstalled. That means that it isn't part of their definition of "everywhere" (as in "write once, run everywhere"), and they won't do more than they absolutely have to to support it.

      Oh, you meant technical reasons? Java works fine on BSD, and has for a long time. We are talking about licensing issues here.

    2. Re:1.3.1?? by KrispyKringle · · Score: 1
      As the previous reply pointed out, Java has worked fine on FreeBSD for some time. This is no real change for anyone other than lawyers.

      In regards to your comment about the "older version of the JVM", I'd be curious which classes are an issue for you. I'm sure there are some; I've occasionally run into issues with stuff I wrote in 1.4 not working on 1.3, but for the most part, it's not a big deal. Although you really can simply compile 1.4 yourself if you care.

    3. Re:1.3.1?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am glad for BSD folks, however SUN released 1.3.1 at may 2001. With such a very long lag no serious Java developer would consider FreeBSD as suitable platform for Java apps.

    4. Re:1.3.1?? by elbuddha · · Score: 1

      It also doesn't help that Sun requires a very substantial "donation" for permitting a binary jdk distribution. The FreeBSD Foundation had to pony up major bucks for this to happen. Red Hat, et al, ponied up to Sun for a Linux binary jdk a long before FreeBSD did.

    5. Re:1.3.1?? by thanjee · · Score: 2, Informative

      Considering Macintosh OS 9.X doesn't even support Java 1.2 yet (they are working on it), I think FreeBSD are doing okay.

      The sources have been there a long time - it's just a rubber stamp approving a precompiled version. Besides which, what BSD user out there really cares about having to compile source files themselves? It's as easy as typing in "make" :)

      --
      Saying your OS is the best because more people use it is like saying MacDonalds make the best food
    6. Re:1.3.1?? by MobyTurbo · · Score: 4, Informative
      That is an older version of the JVM which will be missing some classes that are being used by Java programmers. So much for being up to date.
      A native 1.4 sun jdk is in ports, I haven't tested it yet though. I assume that 1.4 in binary form will be forthcoming.
      BTW, why are they only now getting around to offering the Java SDK on BSD?
      FreeBSD has had a native Java 2 SDK for years, but they needed a Sun license in order to distribute binaries. Before you had to compile it in ports, which due to all of the point and click licenses Sun required you couldn't do in an automated fashion.
    7. Re:1.3.1?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Here is a message from the clue stick: FreeBSD is dying

    8. Re:1.3.1?? by wembley · · Score: 1

      OS 9.x is a deprecated platform. Apple is no longer shipping a bootable version, and minimal work is being done on compatibility. OS X has Java 1.4.

      --

      Share and Enjoy!

  25. Waiting for Debian BSD.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  26. This should be fun.. by blueforce · · Score: 2, Funny

    for(;;){

    Thread t = new Thread( new someRunnableClass() );

    t.start();

    }

    --
    If you do what you always did, you get what you always got.
  27. GNU by linuxislandsucks · · Score: 1

    what about the other one Red hat is contibuting to?

    GNU clearPath?

    --
    Don't Tread on OpenSource
    1. Re:GNU by fucksl4shd0t · · Score: 1

      GNU clearPath?

      This is flamebait, so mods should make sure to mod it as such.

      I'm thinkig about starting a project and callig it GNV, for GNV's Not Vapor.

      --
      Like what I said? You might like my music
  28. Re:Fine but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Thats an excellent analogy actually. Microsoft is to BSD very much what America is to China and India...superior in every way.

  29. Re:Only works on 4.8 by andrewski · · Score: 0

    It flat out will not work.

    Kind of like you?

  30. Re:who cares by Call+Me+Black+Cloud · · Score: 3, Informative

    And one step below the 100k threshold lies my favorite host of choice, Pair Networks. And take a look at what the longest running sites are using.

  31. Not a stupid question. by Will+Sargent · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You could do before, but it was really ugly.

    Installing Java required patches all over the place, and the ports system of compiling from code meant that trying to set up a server with Java (like Tomcat or Resin) would pull down a ton of X related UI stuff that you'd have to clean up afterwards.

    On top of that, there were some stability issues because of the differences in threading models and wotnot.

    1. Re:Not a stupid question. by KrispyKringle · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Getting Java itself to run on FreeBSD was no problem for me. Getting Tomcat to work was pretty difficult, but as far as I can tell, this is largely due to Tomcat, not FreeBSD (as in, the same problems exist, to a greater or lesser extent, on Linux).

      Tomcat itself works fine, actually, but mod_jserv or mod_jk are a bit of an issue for me; jserv is no longer maintained and is outdated, while jk apparently doesn't play well with Apache 1.3. Like I said, this is apparently more of an issue with Tomcat than with FreeBSD. Though I did manage to get mod_jk and Tomcat working in a matter of minutes on Debian, this speaks more of the beauty of apt-get than the ease of mod_jk or Tomcat installation.

  32. Nvidia lists FreeBSD support by Gherald · · Score: 4, Informative

    Somewhat OT, but it really impressed me today when I went to the Nvidia site and clicked "Download Drivers" --> "Graphics Driver" --> "Geforce and TNT"

    And saw listed for choices:

    Windows XP / 2000
    Windows NT4
    Windows 95 / 98 / ME
    Linux IA32
    Linux AMD64
    Linux IA64
    FreeBSD

    I don't know whether Nvidia's support is new (it probably isn't) but this is the first time I noticed it listed.

    I was like: "Wow, people actually use this OS enough that a major graphics company provides drivers on their main download page."

    Sorry if this isn't news, I just thought it was cool.

    1. Re:Nvidia lists FreeBSD support by Tim+C · · Score: 1

      It's new-ish; I don't check the site that regularly, but I'm pretty sure that the FreeBSD drivers have been there for only 6 months or so.

    2. Re:Nvidia lists FreeBSD support by Arandir · · Score: 3, Informative

      FreeBSD support has been around about six months or so. I built a new system a couple of weeks ago, and chose a Nvidia card precisely because they supported FreeBSD. I've got a GeForce FX 5200 and there are no problems.

      I used to bash Nvidia all day long for keeping their drivers closed, but it seems like ATI has been asleep at the wheel for a couple of years now with regards to specs, so what you gonna do? It's not like there are any other consumer grade video card manfuacturers anymore. Matrox still seems to be in business, but just try finding one of their cards.

      --
      A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
  33. Re:Hard times for *BSD by bgp4 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Wow... What an impressively short-sighted and misinformed opinion. Lemme guess, you're a linux user?

    The latest Netcraft survey indicates that the top 5 sites (whatever that means) on the Net run FreeBSD. Now, whether you believe how they indicated top 5 or not, sites like yahoo.com are huge and the fact that they run FreeBSD says a lot.

    The BSD's are alive and kicking, esp when you care about size and performance. I can run a Linux Moz binary on a FreeBSD 4.8 box faster than on a RedHat 9 box on the same hardware. Say what you will, but BSD's are a great fit for a number of uses.

    --
    I'm down with that, as it were
  34. Bad examples. by markv242 · · Score: 5, Informative

    (Every time I post this sort of message, I get +5. I hate karma whoring like this, but once again it's time for some education.) "Amazon is hiring Perl programmers" leads the reader to believe that Amazon is running Perl in some major shape or form. They aren't. They are running Java servlets under... Weblogic, I believe. "Slashdot...runs on Perl." leads the reader to believe that Slashdot is a complicated website. It isn't. Incidentally, have you clicked on the "Friends" tab on your user page lately? What an incredibly slow response (and that isn't a bandwidth issue). None of the technologies you listed (mod_perl, Python, PHP, etc) handle any type of failure well at all. Show me a PHP-based site, hosted on multiple machines, that provides load-balanced and automatic failover of in-memory session data. I'll give you a clue: you won't find one, because it is impossible to do shared memory over a cluster of machines in PHP, mod_perl, Python, etc etc. On the other hand, I can list off a whole slew of Java app servers that can do clustered, load-balanced, full-failover shared memory without even blinking. Resin is an awesome example of an extremely inexpensive application server that currently does nearly everything you need an app server to do. Want to know a little secret? The PHP team is moving more towards an application-server architecture, because they know that the native compiled-in mod to Apache/iPlanet/etc is kludgy. They're cooperating with Sun and others on JSF so PHP will be able to speak with Java applications in a more efficient way. mod_perl I won't even bother with. The MVC model simply won't work under mod_perl. Good luck with an implementation team of more than, say, 5 people.

    1. Re:Bad examples. by butane_bob2003 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Agreed! I'd mod parent up, but I've already posted to this thread. I've been working in an environment that includes a perl application using mod_per+apache, mysql, and a java app server. The perl app is 3rd party and is generally considered well put together. Deploying the perl app and apache is always a nightmare, recently spent hours tracking down a bug in a CPAN module. (at least they proved test cases so you can see the modules fail before they install) Automating the deployment is very difficult, obviously the developers expect you to spend hours changing hard coded paths in lines of source code and config files every time you want to deploy it. Deploying the Java app server and web app is never a problem, it usually takes about 2 minutes and can easily be automated using Ant.

      --


      TallGreen CMS hosting
    2. Re:Bad examples. by tigga · · Score: 1
      Automating the deployment is very difficult, obviously the developers expect you to spend hours changing hard coded paths in lines of source code and config files every time you want to deploy it.

      You have to have policies for developers for not to hardcode anything. BTW with mod_perl httpd.conf could have scripts inside for automating things.

      And deploymentwise I didn't have problems with mod_per and apache. You just have to set up it once, create package and deploy it on any number of servers...

    3. Re:Bad examples. by Dom2 · · Score: 4, Informative
      The MVC model simply won't work under mod_perl

      Hmmm, you must be smoking something good. Whilst there are some things you can't do under mod_perl (realtime perhaps), MVC is not one of them. In fact, you have an enourmous amount of choice when it comes to mod_perl and MVC - mason, Apache::Template, PageKit, AxKit and so on. There are many other tools to help you with MVC, or you can roll your own if you've sufficient hubris to think that none of the existing stuff does its job.

      Please try to research your rants a little better.

      -Dom

    4. Re:Bad examples. by pnatural · · Score: 2, Informative

      Funny that you mention Python twice but the OP never mentioned it once.

      FYI, python "handles failure" quite nicely, and it does it in the manner that it should. Namely, it refuses to guess when faced with ambiguity, and it propigates exceptions nicely (and more easily at the code level than does Java, btw).

      FYI, it is not "impossible to do shared memory". Fact is, python does shared memory aplenty.

      You sound like the programmers I've encountered that know one or two languages, and subsequently feel threatened by others. My suggestion to you is to look past the lowly forrest in which you find yourself.

    5. Re:Bad examples. by insomnike · · Score: 1

      Do you post the above message often?

      If you're looking for a technology that can handle persistent/shared sessions for clustering, then you're definately going to need Java. Or PHP (with MySQL+sessions). Or Python (ZEO, just as one example- there's always using an RDBMS keyed on a session-key). Or Perl (as above).

      PHP especially (though I am not a fan) makes this as transparent as HTTPSession (and I've set up enough J2EE servers in my time to know that it's not easy, nor is it in anyway standard across vendors.)

      If I were you, I would avoid saying that things are 'impossible' in any programming language that's turing complete.

    6. Re:Bad examples. by butane_bob2003 · · Score: 1

      Sure, but I would prefer if httpd.conf was really an XML file, instead of the psuedo-xml that is still being used in apache2. It takes getting used to.

      --


      TallGreen CMS hosting
    7. Re:Bad examples. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Show me a PHP-based site, hosted on multiple machines, that provides load-balanced and automatic failover of in-memory session data.

      *Cough* Yahoo! *Cough*

  35. 3 years later? by krokodil · · Score: 0, Troll

    I am glad for BSD folks, but SUN released 1.3.1 at may 2001. Which such lag no serious java developer would consider FreeBSD as suitable platform for java apps.

    1. Re:3 years later? by mi · · Score: 4, Informative

      The java/jdk13 port was added to FreeBSD on Aug 27, 2001 -- according to CVS.

      Now, _two_ years later, there is an _officially licensed_ binary package available. All "serious developers" could, and many did consider FreeBSD quite suitable for years... But it takes a lot of effort to get an official license to distribute the binaries. And not just the coding effort, which would be the FreeBSD people's idea of fun. It is mostly the legalese and paperwork kind of effort, which most sane people hate...

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    2. Re:3 years later? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am glad for BSD folks, but SUN released 1.3.1 at may 2001. With such long lag no serious java developer would consider FreeBSD as suitable platform for java apps.

    3. Re:3 years later? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Blame Sun for their stupid licensing.

  36. So its happened... by holzp · · Score: 5, Funny

    To defeat Gates, Scott McNealy has finally made a deal with the devil..er..daemon..

    1. Re:So its happened... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Let's get right down to brass tacks. There is no longer any doubt:
      *BSD is dying
  37. a day late and a dollar short by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    As far as I know Windows have had native support for Java for ages. Actually since Microsoft and Sun signed an agreement about this back in 1997 that deals with this issue. So the fact that FreeBSD got this is fine but not exactly revolutionary.

    1. Re:a day late and a dollar short by wembley · · Score: 1

      Yeah, and Windows has been as robust, secure, and scalable as FreeBSD since '97 too. Riiiiight.

      --

      Share and Enjoy!

  38. Hell Yeah!!! by Offwhite98 · · Score: 1

    I have been anxious for this release for some time. In many ways it is important to have a current Java Runtime on FreeBSD. I have considered migrating everything over to Linux but then I would miss out on all of the benefits of the FreeBSD Ports Collection. I also feel the FreeBSD release engineering team and the core developers do an excellent job of managing the project. By producing a native Java Runtime I do not have not have to entertain the prospect of using Linux... [and then paying SCO for the privilege ;) ]

    --
    Brennan Stehling - http://brennan.offwhite.net/blog/
  39. 1.3.1? by butane_bob2003 · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Call me redundant, but Java 1.4.1 has been out for a few months, 1.4.2 was recently released, 1.5 is in development. So I can finally use Collections on BSD? Whooopee. I guess Java developers could care less about BSD anyway, speed not being the primary, all overriding, all encompassing concern.

    --


    TallGreen CMS hosting
    1. Re:1.3.1? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Java developers don't live in a vacuum.

      They also know what the rest of us know, to wit,

      *BSD is dying
  40. Re:which one are you? by Dr.+Shim · · Score: 1

    And I prefer potatoes over cabbage! How about you?

    --
    People discover the meaning of life between getting piss drunk and the following hangover.
  41. Re:SHIT ON ME! BSD IS DEAD! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Kreskin said it. I believe it. That settles it.

  42. Re:What We Can Learn From BSD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is a troll, albeit a more sophisticated but not terribly subtle one.

    The papers it references contradict the asserations it makes. If fabricates quotes.

    It confuses the history of BSD Unix, and the roles played by at least 4 to 6 distinct organizations.

    It misrepresents the OpenBSD - IPF license dispute as a personality problem. (Non-GPL Linux kernel modules anyone?)

    It asserts that there are problems porting between BSDs when it is (or should be) well known that Net|Open|Free BSD trade code on a regular basis.

    This should be moderated down as the troll it is.

    Apparently one of the "Netcraft *BSD is dying" trollers has been laid off and has more time on his hands.

  43. Re:which one are you? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Anonymous - dude is angry. Angry about something but not sure what. Against everything: hates all religions, colors, air.

    Yep, that's I.

  44. If you want a universal Programming language by Bill,+Shooter+of+Bul · · Score: 2

    You'd think that Sun would be mor eproactive in porting it to various platforms. WIth freebsd it was almost as if they were trying to prevent it.

    --
    Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
    1. Re:If you want a universal Programming language by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      I am glad for BSD folks, but SUN released 1.3.1 at may 2001. With such a long, long lag, I'm afraid no serious Java developer would consider FreeBSD as suitable platform for Java apps.

    2. Re:If you want a universal Programming language by Bill,+Shooter+of+Bul · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yeah. As a serious java developer, I would have to agree. Its a shame because I also enjoy the bsd operating system.

      --
      Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
  45. Re:who cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Well then, the real question should be So why now? Why did *BSD fail?

    Once you get past the fact that *BSD is fragmented between a myriad of incompatible kernels, there is the historical record of failure and of failed operating systems. *BSD experienced moderate success about 15 years ago in academic circles. Since then it has been in steady decline. We all know *BSD keeps losing market share but why? Is it the problematic personalities of many of the key players? Or is it larger than their troubled personalities?

    The record is clear on one thing: no operating system has ever come back from the grave. Efforts to resuscitate *BSD are one step away from spiritualists wishing to communicate with the dead. As the situation grows more desperate for the adherents of this doomed OS, the sorrow takes hold. An unremitting gloom hangs like a death shroud over a once hopeful *BSD community. The hope is gone; a mournful nostalgia has settled in. Now is the end time for *BSD.

  46. Kaffe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    I'm glad to see that Sun is allowing Sun Java to be released for FreeBSD. Hopefully 1.4.2 will be released sooner or later. There are, however, some other alternatives. Kaffe (www.kaffe.org) is a project to make a free JVM. They are making slow but steady progress on that. Also, gcj is both a compiler and a JVM. Hopefully there will soon be some viable non-Sun Java alternatives.

  47. Re:1.3.1!!!!!! Big deal. Mac OS X is where it's at by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Come on, dudes, the action (in addition to all the apps, jdk's, etc) is on Mac OS X.

    Lets see.

    Owned Apple ]['s - got Steved even after the 'apple ][ forever' "promise"
    Owned Newtons - Got Steved.
    Listened to Gil when at WWDC 1997 that 'Any machine sold by Apple in 1997 will run the the new OS'. No OS X on my 1997 bought FROM Apple machine. - Got Steved.

    I'll take free Apples, free versions of thier OS, but I will not spend *MY* money on OS X.

    OS X may be nice, But Apple/Jobs isn't.

  48. It just won't die! by AstroPup · · Score: 1

    Hell, it won't even reboot! Netcraft top uptimes

    1. Re:It just won't die! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Message to AstroPup, *BSD is dying.

      That is all. I repeat. That is all.

  49. Re:which one are you? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's fucking brill. Repost it everywhere!

    Goodnight.

  50. Non-x86? by DdJ · · Score: 1

    The announcement made no mention of this release being x86-specific. Is it in fact x86-specific? I'm trying to figure out what OS to put on a new Alpha motherboard I just got, and if FreeBSD will get me a working Sun-based Java on it, then I'll install FreeBSD.

    (Significantly different uncertified versions of Java need not apply. I am not going to use an open source JVM, and I am not going to do without the JDK 1.3 class libraries. Those are just not realistic options for what I want to do.)

    1. Re:Non-x86? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      *sigh*

      I don't think you'll find any OS, save Tru64, that has a certified binary JVM on the Alpha. Just forget it.

  51. Re:1.3.1!!!!!! Big deal. Mac OS X is where it's at by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Dear Apple,

    I am a homosexual. I bought an Apple computer because of its well earned reputation for being "the" gay computer. Since I have become an Apple owner, I have been exposed to a whole new world of gay friends. It is really a pleasure to meet and compute with other homos such as myself. I plan on using my new Apple computer as a way to entice and recruit young schoolboys into the homosexual lifestyle; it would be so helpful if you could produce more software which would appeal to young boys. Thanks in advance.

    with much gayness,

    Father Randy "Pudge" O'Day, S.J.

  52. So... how do I "install" this release? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    does it work through ports?

    1. Re:So... how do I "install" this release? by Moridineas · · Score: 2, Informative

      Yes, you can install it through ports (and compiling it) or by downloading a precompiled package.

  53. It was a long time coming by mnmn · · Score: 1

    FreeBSD is now even better suited as standard platforms for ERP systems. Good ERP systems started out on AS/400 systems which provided the most robustness. Theyve since moved to Java and Windows 2000. Supporting and consulting for ERP systems on Windows2000 systems is huge business and the first big ERP software company that will support FreeBSD will grab a new market.

    And THEN we'll find work.

    --
    "Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
  54. Bsd Troll to Post Ratio by ratfynk · · Score: 1

    Good news I have set my rating to 1 and can know see 71 out of 157 bsd posts! Things are finally starting to turn around, for poor old freebsd. Good thing /. uses a Java interface.

    --
    OH THE SHAME I fell off the wagon and use sigs again!
  55. No kidding - Freenet, at last! by Motherfucking+Shit · · Score: 1

    This announcement means that I can (presumably) finally get Freenet running on my spare FreeBSD box. I hadn't been able to figure out how to get the quasi-official, not guaranteed to be functional, volunteer java ports (which may or may not actually include NIO, which Freenet uses) installed on FBSD. I'd pretty much given up.

    This is great news, even if it's binary-only! My thanks to Sun and to the FreeBSD Java team.

    --
    "BSD: Free as in speech. Linux: Free as in beer. Windows 10: Free as in herpes." --Man On Pink Corner in #52607549.
    1. Re:No kidding - Freenet, at last! by 4ntifa · · Score: 1

      NIO is a JDK1.4 feature, and the "official" native JDK is 1.3... Let's hope it won't be long until 1.4, there are already "unofficial" source releases which, AFAIK, are beginning to be quite functional.

      --
      -=- 4ntifa -=-
  56. Question: by RLiegh · · Score: 1

    Why would a user with a 5-digit UID fall for an >2 year old which is posted in nearly every *BSD story?

    Discuss.

    1. Re:Question: by bgp4 · · Score: 1

      User with 5 digit UID decided to actually read/respond to /. comments for the first time in years. The comment was already tagged as a troll, but I had some steam to vent re: BSD bashing... I I dove in head first.

      --
      I'm down with that, as it were
    2. Re:Question: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      No matter which way you slice it, the fact still remains:
      *BSD is dying
      End of story.
  57. Re:which one are you? by panda · · Score: 1

    I like potatoes and cabbage, preferably with some sort of meat, probably from a pig, like short ribs, ham, or tender loin.

    Of course, there's always Spam!

    Now, to keep this on topic, I use FreeBSD on my desktop at home and have been doing Java programming on it for two years now. I've got native JDK 1.4.1 on it, compiled from ports, and it works great!

    I'm currently using FreeBSD 5.1 and plan to stick the 5.x releases in the future. I will likely switch my home web server from Red Hat Linux to FreeBSD when 5-STABLE is branched.

    Now, if I could just figure out what kernel options I need to FreeBSD 5.1 to install on my laptop. Ah well, may as well have Linux machine in the house.

    --
    Just be sure to wear the gold uniform when you beam down -- you know what happens when you wear the red one.
  58. One word: by INT+21h · · Score: 1

    Zope.

    And that's written in python, monsieur.

  59. Re:who cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Fact: *BSD is dying

    It is well known that *BSD is dying. Hardly a soul is unaware of the fact that ever hapless *BSD is mired in an irrecoverable and mortifying tangle of fatal trouble. It is perhaps anybody's guess as to which *BSD is the worst off of an admittedly suffering *BSD community. The numbers continue to decline for *BSD but FreeBSD may be hurting the most. Look at the numbers. The loss of user base for FreeBSD continues in a head spinning downward spiral.

    OpenBSD leader Theo states that there are 7000 users of OpenBSD. How many users of BSD are there? Let's see. The number of OpenBSD versus NetBSD posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7000/5 = 1400 NetBSD users. BSD/OS posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of NetBSD posts. Therefore there are about 700 users of BSD/OS. A recent article put FreeBSD at about 80 percent of the *BSD market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 FreeBSD users. This is consistent with the number of FreeBSD Usenet posts.

    Due to the troubles of Walnut Creek, abysmal sales and so on, FreeBSD went out of business and was taken over by BSDI who sell another troubled OS. Now BSDI is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.

    All major marketing surveys show that *BSD has steadily declined in market share. *BSD is extremely sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If *BSD is to survive at all it will be among hobbyist dilettante dabblers. In truth, for all practical purposes *BSD is already dead. It is a dead man walking.

    Fact: *BSD is dying

  60. Re:1.3.1!!!!!! Big deal. Mac OS X is where it's at by v8envy · · Score: 0

    Waitaminute. You're upset a 6 year old machine won't run the latest and greatest software? Why is this even an issue? I can see a 3 year upgrade cycle for a machine that costs 2-5x of commodity hardware, but 6 years is a bit too much to ask for.

  61. Parent is a troll by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'll give you a clue: you won't find one, because it is impossible to do shared memory over a cluster of machines in PHP, mod_perl, Python, etc etc.

    Actually, dude, Zope smokes Java. Last time I checked, CBS ran a ZEO cluster and I don't think anyone can argue that that's a simple, low-traffic site. As for team development, Zope's seperation of content, logic, and presentation makes the various J2EE-based development enviroments look hopelessly complex at best, and a silly waste of time at worst. Oh yeah, and Yahoo does run PHP for most of their stuff, and Slashdot, which runs on mod_perl, is not a trivial site. Google also uses a lot of Python, and minimal (if any) amounts of Java. Keep trolling, though. I'm sure the Java-loving corporate ignoramuses will keep modding you up.

  62. *BSD is dying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Due to the troubles of Walnut Creek, abysmal sales and so on, FreeBSD went out of business and was taken over by BSDI who sell another troubled OS. Now BSDI is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.

    All major surveys show that *BSD has steadily declined in market share. *BSD is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If *BSD is to survive at all it will be among OS dilettante dabblers. *BSD continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, *BSD is dead.

    Fact: *BSD is dying

  63. still no debian package by J--n · · Score: 1

    It's nice to have a native binary for another platform and all, but it couldn't have been too much work to just repackage a binary they already have.
    Product packaging as debs for Debian linux (link to Java bug db)

  64. Developer laments: What Killed FreeBSD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    The End of FreeBSD

    [ed. note: in the following text, former FreeBSD developer Mike Smith gives his reasons for abandoning FreeBSD]

    When I stood for election to the FreeBSD core team nearly two years ago, many of you will recall that it was after a long series of debates during which I maintained that too much organisation, too many rules and too much formality would be a bad thing for the project.

    Today, as I read the latest discussions on the future of the FreeBSD project, I see the same problem; a few new faces and many of the old going over the same tired arguments and suggesting variations on the same worthless schemes. Frankly I'm sick of it.

    FreeBSD used to be fun. It used to be about doing things the right way. It used to be something that you could sink your teeth into when the mundane chores of programming for a living got you down. It was something cool and exciting; a way to spend your spare time on an endeavour you loved that was at the same time wholesome and worthwhile.

    It's not anymore. It's about bylaws and committees and reports and milestones, telling others what to do and doing what you're told. It's about who can rant the longest or shout the loudest or mislead the most people into a bloc in order to legitimise doing what they think is best. Individuals notwithstanding, the project as a whole has lost track of where it's going, and has instead become obsessed with process and mechanics.

    So I'm leaving core. I don't want to feel like I should be "doing something" about a project that has lost interest in having something done for it. I don't have the energy to fight what has clearly become a losing battle; I have a life to live and a job to keep, and I won't achieve any of the goals I personally consider worthwhile if I remain obligated to care for the project.

    Discussion

    I'm sure that I've offended some people already; I'm sure that by the time I'm done here, I'll have offended more. If you feel a need to play to the crowd in your replies rather than make a sincere effort to address the problems I'm discussing here, please do us the courtesy of playing your politics openly.

    From a technical perspective, the project faces a set of challenges that significantly outstrips our ability to deliver. Some of the resources that we need to address these challenges are tied up in the fruitless metadiscussions that have raged since we made the mistake of electing officers. Others have left in disgust, or been driven out by the culture of abuse and distraction that has grown up since then. More may well remain available to recruitment, but while the project is busy infighting our chances for successful outreach are sorely diminished.

    There's no simple solution to this. For the project to move forward, one or the other of the warring philosophies must win out; either the project returns to its laid-back roots and gets on with the work, or it transforms into a super-organised engineering project and executes a brilliant plan to deliver what, ultimately, we all know we want.

    Whatever path is chosen, whatever balance is struck, the choosing and the striking are the important parts. The current indecision and endless conflict are incompatible with any sort of progress.

    Trying to dissect the above is far beyond the scope of any parting shot, no matter how distended. All I can really ask of you all is to let go of the minutiae for a moment and take a look at the big picture. What is the ultimate goal here? How can we get there with as little overhead as possible? How would you like to be treated by your fellow travellers?

    Shouts

    To the Slashdot "BSD is dying" crowd - big deal. Death is part of the cycle; take a look at your soft, pallid bodies and consider that right this very moment, parts of you are dying. See? It's not so bad.

    To the bulk of the FreeBSD committerbase and the developer community at large - keep your eyes on the real