[fedora-java] Should the rebuilt java-1.5.0-gcj go to F-11 ?

[Jerry James]

On Tue, May 12, 2009 at 10:29 AM, Stepan Kasal <skasal at redhat.com> wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I have fixed a bug in F-11 and I need your help for decision whether
> the fixed package should be pushed to F11 Alpha or whether it should
> stay away from F11 itself and released as a 0-day update.

Many thanks for getting gcj to build again!

> As you probably know, a mass rebuild was performed during F-11
> development (https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_11_Mass_Rebuild)
>
> java-1.5.0-gcj  has resisted all attempts to be rebuilt, so the
> latest build was (until now) java-1.5.0-gcj-1.5.0.0-25.fc11,
> predating the mass rebuild.
>
> This build contained a i386.rpm for x86, not i586 (the i586 change
> was one of the reasons for the rebuild).
> But yum "frowned upon" the i386 rpm, leading to the consequence that
> the openjdk java was preferred on x86, while gcj was preferred on all
> other archs, including x86_64.
> This can be puzzling; we have discussed this in the thread I started
> a few days ago.
>
> I have worked around the bug that prevented java-1.5.0-gcj from
> rebuilding (it was #500314, if you are curious) and rebuilt it.
> Consequently, gcj is again the preferred java on all architectures.
>
> This new build of java-1.5.0-gcj is ready for the future rawhide
> (dist-f12) and also for F-11.  The question is how it should be
> included to F-11: it can be either a 0-day update or we can push it
> to F11 Alpha.
>
> Before pushing to F11 Alpha, we have to judge the wins and the risk.
> - the win is removing the above confusing inconsistency
> - But what are the risks that this change introduces a new bug to F11
>  Alpha?  I need your help here as I do not understand Java.

If I understand what you did correctly, the sources for gcj have not
changed at all, right?  It was just a question of tweaking the build
environment so that it would rebuild against all the latest stuff.  If
that is true, then I would say that the risk is very low and the
benefits are desirable.

> Would you recommend including the rebuilt java-1.5.0-gcj to Fedora 11
> itself?

Yes, if for no other reason than that it will stop confusing
maintainers who are trying to build Java packages.
-- 
Jerry James
http://www.jamezone.org/