[IdPv3] Targeting Java 7

[Kaspar Brand]

On 25.10.11 15:11, Chad La Joie wrote:
> On Tue, Oct 25, 2011 at 02:57, Kaspar Brand <kaspar.brand at switch.ch> wrote:
>> Assuming that Oracle keeps to its promises in the OpenJDK FAQ
>> (http://openjdk.java.net/faq/), I would expect that after July 2012,
>> they provide source code fixes for Java 7, at least. It is then the job
>> of Red Hat, Ubuntu et al. to backport fixes to the versions bundled with
>> their enterprise distributions (if not done by someone from the OpenJDK
>> project).
> 
> Do you have any indication they are actually planning for this?  I
> haven't been able to find anything.

I don't think that the Linux vendors will make precise statements about
what specific package (version) they are going to maintain for how long
- but what Red Hat says, inter alia, is that it "makes commercially
reasonable efforts to maintain binary compatibility for the core runtime
environment across all Service Packs and asynchronous errata advisories"
(note that "runtime environment" in that context doesn't specifically
relate to Java).

> Yes, we do want to avoid issues in this area.  However, targeting an
> EoL platform where the provider clearly says it will NOT be providing
> support (except through their for-pay "enterprise" support thing) and
> with no indication from distribution providers that they'll track and
> patch their builds of OpenJDK, seems far more questionable than
> targeting a supported platform.

But forcing people to upgrade to Java 7 and not leaving them the option
of staying with Java 5 or 6 doesn't seem the right conclusion to me - if
the vendor is providing fixes for "older" JDKs (SUSE e.g. is still
providing updated IBM JDK 1.4.2 packages these days), then people will
hardly understand why they have to install yet another JRE specifically
for the IdP v3.

Kaspar