Sun Releases First GPLed Java Source

An anonymous reader writes "You can now get GPLed JVM sources from Sun. Everyone seemed to be expecting the desktop version (J2SE) but J2ME has been released first. It looks to be buildable for Linux x86, MIPS, and ARM platforms. Sun now calls it 'phoneME.' Enjoy."

Comments

requirements:

[DrSkwid]

To properly build executables for the Linux/ARM target platform, a Linux/i386 build platform must meet the following requirements:

        * Red Hat Linux distribution version 7.2 - 9.0
        * Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE(TM)) Development Kit (JDK(TM)) version 1.4.2
        * GNU Make version 3.79.1 or later
        * GNU Cross Compiler (GCC) 3.4.6 or later
        * Doxygen version 1.4.1
        * Development Kit for the Java Card(TM) Platform 2.2.1

To set up the Linux/i386 build environment, you must do the following things:

        * Acquire Monta Vista Developer Tools
        * Set Linux platform environment variables

Acquiring Monta Vista Developer Tools

To build phoneME Feature software for the Linux/ARM (P2 board) target platform, you must acquire the MontaVista CEE 3.1 ADK developer tools.

Re:Mono is not compareanble either

[molarmass192]

Java is hardly what I would call enterprise ready either.

Man ... that's a +5 Funny if I've ever read one. You obviously don't work in an "enterprise". Take it from someone who does (telco), Java is used in massive deployments where Mono/.Net doesn't even make the faintest blip on the radar. There are production Java apps running with 5-9 uptimes that have been going for years.

Re:Mono is not compareanble either

[Roman Coder]

Java is an extremely poor choice of language for desktop applications and high-concurrency network daemons. That is Java's weakness. Do not use it for that kind of application -- it will never come close to C++ in that area. Its strengths generally lie in areas where the overhead of the class libraries do not come into play so heavily -- some server-side work and servlets, and the stripped-down mobile version (that was released today). As someone who makes his (good) income writing desktop applications in Java SE (Swing) for Fortune 100 companies, I would have to strongly disagree with this (and not just because I want to keep paying my bills either! :p ).

I (as a contractor) come to a customer site, and see crappy Swing-specific code written. Its usually the developer not knowing how to deal with multi-thread programming (event dispatch thread, etc.). I rewrite the app, it goes into production, and the user base loves it. They click on a single web link to start their app, and automatically get updates when new versions come out. They can run it on multiple OSs too (music industry companies use lots of Macs (for example)). Its performance is comperable to other apps running on their OS/desktop.

Java (and Swing, or if you prefer SWT) is more than fast enough to do the job, is very powerful and is allot easier to write to than 3GL languages. But like with any tool (or weapon), you need to know how to use it to use it effectively. And that can be said of any computing language, both 3GL and well as 4GL.

I don't mean to be insulting, but it seems like you really don't know what you are talking about. I would even argue that (especially for businesses) it is the BEST choice of language to write applications in. No idea about using it for writing a game and such, but if you're looking for a 4GL (PowerBuilder) type replacement, its the best out there (even though its really a 3 1/2GL language).