Apache Harmony

There is a very high activity level around the new Apache Harmony project (which aims to create an Apache J2SE implementation). It is still at an early level where the basic design decisions are being discussed.

One of these is what language the JVM should be written in, and there is already an offer to donate a C-based JVM to the project. Perhaps it would be in JNodes interest to jump in and perhaps gain momentum by sharing the JNode JVM with this project?

If any Open Source JVM is to get critical mass, this would most likely be it.

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Thorbjørn

Good idea, but...

It's definitely a good idea, but if they've decided to take the C approach, JNode's VM wouldn't be attractive, after all, IBM's JikesRVM is also open sourced.
BTW: what's the URL of this project? Will Harmony beat GNU's Classpath?

Birkey Ma
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Beijing, China
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Things should be made as simple as possible -
but no simpler. (Einstein)

It's a great idea!

It's a great idea! If JNode's VM can help Harmony, I don't see a reason no to do it.

After all the JNodes VM could easily be used on top of another OS as a JVM. In the worst condition a wrapper betwen the OS and the JNodes VM would be needed, instead of the nanokernel. For x86 and AMD64 it could work just by removing the bootstrap and make some modifications, to let a part of the nanokernel to run as an executable on the other OS (well maybe I put it oversimplified here but...).

I also like that Harmony is very cautius about the licenses, what can be caled "Java" and what not. Something that we dont do.

We already have discuss the idea of cooperate with JikesRVM. Why not bind altogether?

Great, but nontrivial

Running Jnode both as stand-alone OS and as application on a host OS really sound promising (especially when considering how that would ease migration from other OSs to Jnode).

Alas, I don't think it can be done by simply removing the bootstrap code. I think at least memory management, drivers and disk access will also be affected, because Jnode as well as the other OS would need to synchronize access to these resources. Since it is very unlikely that the other OSs are prepared to share all their resources with a second OS, Jnode would have to use the drivers, memory, disks etc. provided by the host OS. That may be possible, but means slightly Eye-wink more work - and probably many, many lines of C code.

Sebastian

It's not about runnind JNode

It's not about runnind JNode ontop of another OS. It's about geting the JNodes VM part to work in another OS.

It loosk very simple to me. The issues that you have mentioned are not so hard to overcome.

GNU Classpath

Harmony will be use GNU classpath as a foundation, there is a mailing list about harmony dev's discussion and i suggest that jnode developer keep an eye on this list, it can be interesting.

EDIT : harmony-dev@incubator.apache.org

Fabien L.

GNU Classpath

Harmony will be use GNU classpath as a foundation, there is a mailing list about harmony dev's discussion and i suggest that jnode developer keep an eye on this list, it can be interesting.

Fabien L.