Peter B. West wrote:
> 
> 
> I think you're missing my point.  Java 5 works, and is, for practical
> purposes, forward compatible with 1,4, with the exception of 'enum'.  If
> that is so, why not a flag 'java5', that triggers source source 1.4 on
> packages that need it?  The system JVM is 5, and Bob's your uncle.
> What's the system-level stability issue?
> 

Java 5 is *not* API compatible with 1.4.

We already have an overlay for using 1.5:
http://dev.gentoo.org/~betelgeuse/axxo-overlay

As far as stability goes, I think 1.5 is more stable than 1.4 as far as
for example applets go.

>
> This is not a technical issue, it's an ideological issue, as I said
> before.  This is, in fact, quite explicit in the Gentoo documentation. I
> suggest that subscribers to the "conspiracy-theory-theory" (I never used
> the word) read the "Gentoo social contract"
> <http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/contract.xml>, including the definition
> of "free software" <http://www.fsf.org/licensing/essays/free-sw.html>.
> 
> I suggest, further, that the Gentoo folks in this forum come clean about
> this when asked in good faith about using Java 5 on Gentoo.  The answer
> is along these lines: Java 5 will not be supported on Gentoo until a 1.5
> JVM is available under a Stallman-approved licence.  The genuine options
> for J5 users are to scrap the Gentoo Java support and maintain your own
> Java environment, or to abandon Gentoo.
> 
> I see that there is yet another enquiry on the list about using J5. Do
> that user a favour and tell him why he can't get a supported J5
> environment on Gentoo, so that he can then make informed decisions. If
> you guys are embarrassed by the Gentoo ideology, change it or leave. If
> not, present it honestly, instead of spouting this deliberately
> misleading BS about system stability issues.  It's leaving users with
> the impression that J5 is unstable, which it patently is not.
> 
> Peter

We already have a Java 5 environment for which you will get support from
us: It is called the axxo-overlay.

Regards,
Petteri