IBM releases JDK 1.16 alpha for Linux

Jeff N Roberts from IBM wrote in to announce that IBM is releasing a JDK for Linux which incorporates the same IBM Just-In-Time technology found in IBM's JVMs for OS/2 and Windows. Dave Whitinger has HTMLized the FAQ we were sent. (If the IBM link does not work, it should be active shortly)

Comments

Nice, but is it what we need? I'd like 1.2

[gavinhall]

Posted by !ErrorBookmarkNotDefined:

I was glad to see yet another 1.1.x port to Linux. However, I wonder how useful this port can be. Consider that it lacks byte coder verification of the class files found in the CLASSPATH. (Note: I assume IBM of all companies followed the white paper on this and didn't change the primordial class loader.)

Consider that it lacks the fine-grained policy provided by JDK 1.2. Consider that the classloaders are limited to URL and sandbox models. Consider that it lacks good JFC support. (Yes, yes, I realize you can just path the swingall.jar libs, but the speed is terrible, even if the bug pathes from Sun precede those of JDK 1.2.2; other people might disagree, but I don't find non-optimized Swing a viable alternative. Plus, there's no Java accessibility, glasgow, etc.)

This is not to fault IBM; they've done wonderful work with Java, and appear to be serious about linux as well. Instead, these are just limitations in the 1.1.x VM--among many others.

So, while I'm glad to hear of IBM's efforts, I'm dubious about the need for another JDK 1.1.x port. Particularly one with such a low version number. There are a number of critical bugs in JDK 1.1.6 (e.g., the "contains()" and "inside()" snafu fixed only in 1.2 and 1.1.8), that are likely repeated in this port. (Perhaps I'm wrong; but then why not version the package up to 1.1.8?)

Let's look at the field of 1.1 VM so far, according at least to FSF's tally:

• BISS AWT - A Java framework for building graphical applications.
• Jlint - Java program checker
• Kaffe - A virtual machine to run Java bytecodes. For many architectures, "just-in-time" native code generation is supported.
• Kiev - A compiler that extends and unites the Java and Prolog languages.
  
• Classpath - Essential libraries for supporting the Java language.
• SableCC - An object-oriented framework that generates compilers (and interpreters) in the Java language.

All of these distros are capable 1.1.x compliant VMs. I was glad to see them when they arrived. But they all lack many of the key improvements in the 1.2 VM:

1. automatic non-classpath byte code verification.
2. RMI that doesn't hog port 1099, and can be tweaked with a security policy
3. speaking of security, the boolean sandbox model in 1.1.x is either too restrictive or too liberal for e-ware. JDK 1.2's fine-grained policies are needed to do anything non-trivial in Linux java
4. I could list this stuff all day

It strikes me that without javax support for crypto, security, non-port-specific RMI, and other "enterprise enabling" packages, the 1.1.x ports are not that helpful. Of course, someone wanting to make a nice GUI or web client can use the IBM port. (For that matter, why not use blackdown's more mature port?)

So, while we should welcome this distro, I think the Linux Java community needs to press for a good 1.2 VM. (I.e., our debug and testing cycles should be applied to, say jdk1.2pre2 from blackdown, so that thread safety, RMI, drag and drop and other "e-features" start working right.) It's great the IBM has a 1.1.x distro, but it comes kinda late.

I'm sure IBM could amaze us all with a good JDK 1.2 linux port. It would be nice to see the speed that the 2.2 kernel has over Windows fully exploited in a good port.

[Note: Again, I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth; it's just that we need something stronger than yet another horse.]

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