Chris DiBona's Blog

Welcome to linux.java.net

Welcome to linux.java.net and ... what are we trying to accomplish here?

Welcome to linux.java.net! We're launching this site with a simple mission, to ensure that Linux becomes and remains a first-tier platform for Java, enjoying equality and parity with other operating systems like Solaris.

My name is Chris DiBona. I have a long history with the Linux side of this equation, formerly working at VA Software/OSDN, and Slashdot, and currently working doing open source advocacy and consulting for a number of large companies in the United States and abroad. Imagine my Troy McClure voice intoning, "You might remember me from such organizations as Linux International and from my work exposing Linux on TechTV." Anyhow, enough of the boring CV stuff. Why linux.java.net? Why me at linux.java.net?

When a friend approached me about helping to build this community, she thought I was unlikely to be interested in doing it, but I think I (mildly) surprised her by saying yes. The reason I jumped at the chance was that I have the perception (valid or no, we'll decide) that Linux is somewhat of an inferior platform for Java development and deployment. Make no mistake, I am a Linux and open source partisan; I think the open source development model is a superior one with very few, specialized, exceptions. That said, I don't hold any illusions about where Linux is superior and where it needs a little bit of help. It is also my hope that we can address Linux here, not just specific distributions.

Correctly or not, it has been my impression that Java on Linux is one of these places that needs a healthy shove. Thus, I decided to give it a shot and see what could be done about achieving parity for Linux with regards to Java. The reason I want this is that I want Linux to be the platform of choice for developers everywhere. Java is a vital and important part of making this happen. Proponents of Linux doesn't want Java to be an Achilles' heel when considering adoption, but rather another alluring reason to pick it up. I also think that furthering Linux adoption means that BSD will also become a better platform for Java, which would also be a good thing.

Our course is therefore clear: we must first work to become a definitive place to find out how to currently accommodate the pitfalls and tricks of developing Java applications on the Linux platform. We must track how those pitfalls change as Linux becomes the reference platform that we know it can be, and that true Java success demands of it. Upon achieving this lofty goal, we should probably make sure we aren't wrong, and then do whatever we can to maintain that equilibrium.

This is not a small job for Java (much less for J2EE, the different IDEs out there, and more), and I'll measure my success in this effort by what we accomplish. Making this more challenging is my own current ignorance of Java. I am not a professional Java programmer. To that end, and to ensure that I don't hinder the efforts of the site with my ignorance, I'll be working with Daniel Steinberg of java.net on this, along with some folks at Sun and other companies working with and on Java. Daniel has already been a great help in letting me know what to expect and giving me pointers in the right direction, but I don't want to present myself as an expert at Java. I'm not.

What then do we need from you, dear reader? First, we need to see who is even interested in this subject, and you can help us with that by visiting the site and perhaps registering or pulling the feed with your favorite aggregator. Second, those of you embroiled in Java-on-Linux development, we want you blogging and writing here. Contact me if you'd like to write a feature article for us. We have the facilities to host projects as well, but we're more than willing to bring attention to your project whether it is hosted here, on your own site, or on SourceForge, Savannah, or wherever. Third, we need your feedback. Whether on the discussion forums attached to these posts or via email, I and the site need you to tell us if we're full of it, how much we are full of it, and how to achieve our goal of Java development parity for Linux.

Comments

• Welcome Chris! Chris, As one Linux maven to another, I am delighted to see your presence at java.net! I know you can encourage more exceptional contributions! Please visit my project here; after all, if you remember, you encouraged me to publish it! If I can be of any assistance, please write. John

  Posted by: cajo on January 21, 2004 at 07:36 PM

• Welcome Chris! As one Linux maven to another, I am delighted to see your presence at java.net! I know you can encourage more exceptional contributions! I'm happy with such a presence here too - as long as he doesn't post subjects like "The Lone Dukes are Dead" :-)

  Posted by: felipeal on January 21, 2004 at 08:13 PM

• The mistake that follows me around ;-) That's really funy...for those of you that don't know, I put a spoiler on the front page of slashdot once...people love reminding me about it (In good humor, I think :-) ) Anyhow, Thanks for the welcome and it is my hope that this site works out too!

  Chris DiBona

  Posted by: cdibona on January 21, 2004 at 10:36 PM

• Cool I think this site could be very cool. I am happy that Sun provides a Linux VM, but support and development time for it seems lacking compared to the focus given to other platforms (Windows), especially in the areas of desktop/client use (Swing/Java2D), installation (redistribution licensing issues, lack of graphical installer, Java Web Start), and so on. I have a Linux project I plan to release soon that I will release here.

  Posted by: keithkml on January 21, 2004 at 11:14 PM

• Cool I meant to add, I'm glad this site is focusing on Java on Linux when it seems like Sun for the most part isn't.

  Posted by: keithkml on January 21, 2004 at 11:15 PM

• ! Cool Java WebStart is on Linux. I run it all the time, on a number of releases. From my perspective, Java is largely consistent on all platforms, from a technical perspective. Give it a go.

  Posted by: gonzo on January 22, 2004 at 06:40 AM

• Right on... So where do we post our gripes about what needs to be improved in Java/Linux?

  Posted by: kenlars99 on January 22, 2004 at 07:56 AM

• ! Cool Java Web Start's file extension JNLP is not registered by the installer to open JWS.

  Posted by: keithkml on January 22, 2004 at 08:23 AM

• My JAVA+Linux Experiences!!!!!!! i am a big fan of FLOSS, i have been using Linux for long and have been doing development using C as my primary language(also developed small snippets, sample apps using JAVA, but no full fledged development), that was the time when i desperately wanted to work and explore JAVA with Linux as my platform @ my workplace too, Then the time came, and when i was up and running with JAVA, believe me i found it(JAVA+LINUX) one of the best development experiences i ever had, For some time(some = very little), I have also worked on MS technologies(VS.NET) and .NET Framework, and found MS camp boasting the producitvity gain they get out of tools like VS.NET and components, and when i started JAVA development with ECLIPSE, i found it nowhere lagging as compared to VS.NET. So what you get here is the productivity gain of MS tools and rock solid stability of Linux and JAVA(no more frustating "Damn it"'s when your VS.NET crashes for no fault of urs and taking all your code with itself). Now with JavaFaces and VB like tools in pipline, you get everything what you ever asked for........ If you havent tried JAVA as your langauge of choice on your platform of choice(which is obviously Linux, since you are here, reading this), you development experience is incomplete...... Linux community on JAVA.net.....perfect hangout for guys like me :)

  Posted by: abstract_vatsal on January 23, 2004 at 05:26 AM

• Proprietary Java for Linux? How about the first thing to start is a open source JVM for Linux ? I bit of a contradiction to write open source code for an open source operating system that requires a closed and proprietary method to run it.

  Posted by: dukefetish on January 23, 2004 at 02:46 PM

• Proprietary Java for Linux? why is it that when constructing and/or participating in an open source initiative that some, quite likely a minority, feel compelled to require the *entire* stack to be open source? i just don't get it. while i can grasp the intent and to a practical degree, emphasis on practical, i concur but when the situation arises that compelling components exist, are rock solid, freely available, multiplatform and source is available yet the component is not "open source" in the purest sense do some, likely the minority, get worked up a bit? seriously, why? why not spend more engergies building higher level kick a$$ and purely open source apps vs cloning said component? i for one thoroughly enjoy pushing systems to the extreme edge vs effectively re-writing something that already exists and is of great value of which i, personally, am hugely appreciative.

  Posted by: gonzo on January 24, 2004 at 05:37 AM

• ! Cool fair enough but i feel that data point is a detailed and resolvable (ie readme) extreme vs the implication that Java WebStart/JNLP is not supported/lacking. seriously now. JNLP rocks. i use it everyday, primarily on linux.

  Posted by: gonzo on January 24, 2004 at 05:42 AM

• Proprietary Java for Linux? I concur (obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be heading up this site). I 've never subscribed to the idea that open source and proprietary sorftware shouldn't intermingle. I think that if you want open soruce technologies and platforms to succeed, then you -must- interoperate.

  Posted by: cdibona on January 24, 2004 at 10:58 AM

• Right on... Well, my next post will be on explicitly about -how- to participate...but in short, write long articles, weblog your experiences or just email me and I'll write it up for my updates. And -everyone- please feel free to email me at chris@dibona.com if you have any questions and are not comfortable in a public forum. It's part of what I'm here for :-)

  Posted by: cdibona on January 24, 2004 at 10:59 AM

• Excellent! We're looking forward to seeing your app...and although I didnt' say it explicitly, I'd like to see Java -and- all its assorted librariers and ancillary classes find a very comfortable place to execute in Java. Platform parity is the name of the game here :-)

  Posted by: cdibona on January 24, 2004 at 11:00 AM

• Proprietary Java for Linux? Wrong. It is not a "must” FLOSS can exist without Java as well as Java can survive without FLOSS (or maybe not, we will see with .NET). Having things like "Sun Community Source License" not just scares FLOSS people, but also proves that you cannot blindly trust Sun thus creating a ever present feeling of uncertainty and absence of confidence. Gonzo said " source is available", but remember if you look at sun source, then you won’t be able to work in your own java vm or sdk for life. I may not do it, but I don't like the idea of having such freedom taken away. Yes you have both FLOOS and proprietary software work together, but just try to distribute your application to people without a VM, if you try to give the Sun VM, you will have problems, practical and legal if your customer or user cares about licenses (and if he does not, you should) Java is great, but Sun cast a shadow over it, Java won’t have a good acceptance in FLOSS community until Sun stop putting tramps like SCSL.

  Posted by: rimugu on February 18, 2004 at 10:35 AM

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