Do we have a JDK rev policy ?

[Rob Walker <ro...@ascert.com>]

Noticed that when trying to build under 1.4, I got the following compile 
error:

     symbol  : method signum (long)
     location: class java.lang.Math

I think this method is from 1.5 onwards

Just wondering if we have a "JDK level" policy in terms of what Felix 
and bundles should be buildable/runnable against.

I know 1.4 is quite old, but we still try and keep compatibility to it. 
I think for the above case we'll be fine in fact, since it occurs in DM 
- which we don't currently use. We're also debating mandating a later 
JDK version for our App too - so again, it may not be an issue.

Just thought I'd query if we have an official policy on Felix.

-- R


Ascert - Taking systems to the Edge
robw@ascert.com
+44 (0)20 7488 3470
www.ascert.com

Re: Do we have a JDK rev policy ?

[Rob Walker <ro...@ascert.com>]

Marcel

Thanks for the clarification and fix. That is an interesting observation 
on 1.4 EOL and it's implication for support.

-- Rob

Marcel Offermans wrote:
> On Oct 15, 2008, at 7:41 , Rob Walker wrote:
>
>> Noticed that when trying to build under 1.4, I got the following 
>> compile error:
>>
>>    symbol  : method signum (long)
>>    location: class java.lang.Math
>>
>> I think this method is from 1.5 onwards [...]
>>
>> I know 1.4 is quite old, but we still try and keep compatibility to 
>> it. I think for the above case we'll be fine in fact, since it occurs 
>> in DM - which we don't currently use. We're also debating mandating a 
>> later JDK version for our App too - so again, it may not be an issue.
>
> It's actually in the optional shell command for the DM, however it was 
> my intention to keep that bundle 1.4 compatible, so I just committed a 
> small fix for that.
>
>> Just wondering if we have a "JDK level" policy in terms of what Felix 
>> and bundles should be buildable/runnable against.
>> Just thought I'd query if we have an official policy on Felix.
>
> We have a policy (although it might not be written down anywhere) to 
> keep the core framework compatible with basically 1.4 (or rather the 
> foundation profile). All other bundles can pretty much do what they like.
>
> It is an interesting question though how long we, or rather the OSGi 
> Alliance, wants to maintain a specification that's based on a JDK 
> version that is no longer supported by Sun[1]: the actual End Of Life 
> for 1.4 is the 30th of this month. Of course, the spec is based on the 
> JDK spec, not implementation, but I guess it will become harder to 
> find platforms and tools that will actually still run 1.4 outside of 
> maybe the embedded space. Luckily they defined execution environments, 
> can be run on top of Java 5 (which EOL's a year from now) and 6 too.
>
> Greetings, Marcel
>
> [1] http://java.sun.com/products/archive/eol.policy.html
>

-- 


Ascert - Taking systems to the Edge
robw@ascert.com
+44 (0)20 7488 3470
www.ascert.com

Re: Do we have a JDK rev policy ?

[Marcel Offermans <ma...@luminis.nl>]

On Oct 15, 2008, at 7:41 , Rob Walker wrote:

> Noticed that when trying to build under 1.4, I got the following  
> compile error:
>
>    symbol  : method signum (long)
>    location: class java.lang.Math
>
> I think this method is from 1.5 onwards [...]
>
> I know 1.4 is quite old, but we still try and keep compatibility to  
> it. I think for the above case we'll be fine in fact, since it  
> occurs in DM - which we don't currently use. We're also debating  
> mandating a later JDK version for our App too - so again, it may not  
> be an issue.

It's actually in the optional shell command for the DM, however it was  
my intention to keep that bundle 1.4 compatible, so I just committed a  
small fix for that.

> Just wondering if we have a "JDK level" policy in terms of what  
> Felix and bundles should be buildable/runnable against.
> Just thought I'd query if we have an official policy on Felix.

We have a policy (although it might not be written down anywhere) to  
keep the core framework compatible with basically 1.4 (or rather the  
foundation profile). All other bundles can pretty much do what they  
like.

It is an interesting question though how long we, or rather the OSGi  
Alliance, wants to maintain a specification that's based on a JDK  
version that is no longer supported by Sun[1]: the actual End Of Life  
for 1.4 is the 30th of this month. Of course, the spec is based on the  
JDK spec, not implementation, but I guess it will become harder to  
find platforms and tools that will actually still run 1.4 outside of  
maybe the embedded space. Luckily they defined execution environments,  
can be run on top of Java 5 (which EOL's a year from now) and 6 too.

Greetings, Marcel

[1] http://java.sun.com/products/archive/eol.policy.html