[clug] Why isn't Java popular on the Linux Desktop?

[Ben Coughlan]

I've recently done a lot of work with OSGi framework, which no one I  
ask has ever heard of.  So in a nutshell an OSGi framework provides  
support for modular Java applications (life cycle management,  
dependency resolution, dynamic classpath generation, etc.)

Combine that with the repository concept native to Maven, you have a  
pretty fantastic deployment mechanism.

The OSGi Bundle Repository is a small app that runs inside an OSGi  
framework (inside a JVM) that behaves exactly like apt.  It allows  
lookup of OSGi bundles and gathers all their dependencies when they  
are deployed.

The best thing is that all that can be accessed by an application.  My  
most recent desktop application was written completely in Java and  
runs in an OSGi framework.  Unfortunately we made the switch halfway  
through development which lead to some teething problems...

To summarise, I find OSGi fixes most of the problems discussed in this  
thread so far.  It has been around for 10 years now, but is only just  
starting to come into mainstream use (fingers crossed).

Ben

On 11/07/2009, at 2:57 PM, Daniel Pittman wrote:

> Sam Couter <sam at couter.id.au> writes:
>> Jack Kelly <endgame.dos at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Autotools support for java is nowhere near the level of C or C++.
>>
>> You're doing it wrong.
>>
>> Java is cross-platform and just doesn't suffer from the problems
>> autotools solves.
>
> Well, some of the problems; locating compatible versions of  
> libraries and
> handling changes to ABI between library releases is still an issue  
> for Java
> software.
>
> One of the big distribution problems it faces in Debian, for  
> example, is that
> most packaged library releases change ABI between versions, so  
> release 1.0 and
> 1.1 are not compatible.
>
> This leads to many Java software packages shipping all their  
> dependencies as
> compiled Java code along with the application, duplication of code,  
> and a
> general mismatch with the Debian method of distributing and using  
> system
> libraries.
>
> Plus, obviously, all the security and related issues that follow  
> from what is
> effectively static linking of your application and a specific  
> release of a
> third party library. :)
>
> Regards,
>       Daniel
>
> Not that this is unique to Java; the Ruby people have dedicated huge  
> effort to
> ensuring that they suffer exactly the same problem by carefully  
> designing
> their software distribution "solutions" to embed the same core faults.
>
> -- 
> ✣ Daniel Pittman            ✉ daniel at rimspace.net            ☎  
> +61 401 155 707
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