Recently, I have been thinking about the advantages of having native compilation of Java code using GCJ.
The most notable missing piece in GCJ is an open-source rich client (desktop GUI) toolkit. It is necessary to have this to complete GCJ.
Ideally, there should also be a fully open-source Java IDE. The open-source Java IDE must be made to use the open-source Java stack. At a minimum, open-source Java should be supported by Gnome and KDE.
Where are we on each of these points?
How can we move closer to this goal?
1) Create a SWT/GCJ project (within Eclipse.org or externally). The lynchpin to having a fully open-source Java stack for desktop applications is SWT. Several people have created GCJ-hosted applications with SWT, but they have mostly duplicated their efforts in compiling SWT using GCJ. Further, each new version of SWT seems to break native compilation in some way.
Having a SWT/GCJ project to centralize and coordinate building SWT using GCJ would:
Ideally, a set of build servers should automatically download each SWT integration build, compile SWT natively on all platforms, and flag any errors that occur. SWT buildability needs to be fail-fast when something breaks, not fail-when-some-programmer-needs-to-upgrade, as things are right now.
2) Create a project to fully integrate Eclipse and GCJ (within Eclipse.org or externally)
Hosting Eclipse using GCJ is only the first step. Additional steps include:
We are at an exciting juncture in the life of Java and GNU/Linux; there are many opportunities to continue growing the communities that we already have and to strengthen each other.
Creating the bits of infrastructure described above will enable Java programmers to more easily create and distribute cross-platform native applications using their favorite programming language. It will strengthen the Java open-source/free software communities by making Java appealing to a wider array of individuals. It will give the GNU/Linux crowd access to the rich array of open-source Java projects including Hibernate, Tomcat, Eclipse, Prevayler, and many others. This ultimately will strengthen both communities, and will greatly strengthen Free Software and Open Source.
~~LINKBACK~~ ~~DISCUSSION:closed~~