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-<!-- This is the second edition of Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman.
-
-Free Software Foundation
-
-51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor
-
-Boston, MA 02110-1335
-Copyright C 2002, 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
-Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire book are permitted
-worldwide, without royalty, in any medium, provided this notice is
-preserved. Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations
-of this book from the original English into another language provided
-the translation has been approved by the Free Software Foundation and
-the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all
-copies.
-
-ISBN 978-0-9831592-0-9
-Cover design by Rob Myers.
-
-Cover photograph by Peter Hinely.
- -->
-
-
- <a name="Free-but-Shackled_003a-The-Java-Trap">
- </a>
- <h1 class="chapter">
- 34. Free but Shackled: The Java Trap
- </h1>
- <blockquote class="smallquotation">
- <p>
- Since this article was first published, on 12 April  2004, Sun has relicensed most of its Java platform reference
-implementation under the GNU General Public License, and there is now
-a free development environment for Java. Thus, the Java language as
-such is no longer a trap.
- <br/>
- </p>
- <p>
- You must be careful, however, because not every Java platform is
-free. Sun continues distributing an executable Java platform which is
-nonfree, and other companies do so too.
- <br/>
- </p>
- <p>
- The free environment for Java is called IcedTea; the source code Sun
-freed is included in that. So that is the one you should use. Many
-GNU/Linux distributions come with IcedTea, but some include nonfree
-Java platforms.
- <br/>
- </p>
- <p>
- To reliably ensure your Java programs run fine in a free environment,
-you need to develop them using IcedTea. Theoretically the Java
-platforms should be compatible, but they are not compatible 100 percent.
- <br/>
- </p>
- <p>
- In addition, there are nonfree programs with “Java” in their name,
-such as JavaFX, and there are nonfree Java packages you might find
-tempting but need to reject. So check the licenses of whatever
-packages you plan to use. If you use Swing, make sure to use the free
-version, which comes with IcedTea.
- <br/>
- </p>
- <p>
- Aside from those Java specifics, the general issue described here
-remains important, because any nonfree library or programming platform
-can cause a similar problem. We must learn a lesson from the history
-of Java, so we can avoid other traps in the future.
- <br/>
- </p>
- </blockquote>
- <a name="index-traps_002c-nonfree-libraries-2">
- </a>
- <a name="index-libraries-_0028comp_002e_0029_002c-as-traps-1">
- </a>
- <a name="index-Java-1">
- </a>
- <a name="index-Sun-Microsystems-2">
- </a>
- <a name="index-Swing-library">
- </a>
- <a name="index-JavaFX">
- </a>
- <a name="index-IcedTea-_0028see-also-Java_0029">
- </a>
- <p>
- If your program is free software, it is basically ethical—but
-there is a trap you must be on guard for. Your program, though in
-itself free, may be restricted by nonfree software that it depends
-on. Since the problem is most prominent today for Java programs, we
-call it the Java Trap.
- </p>
- <p>
- A program is free software if its users have certain crucial
-freedoms. Roughly speaking, they are: the freedom to run the program,
-the freedom to study and change the source, the freedom to
-redistribute the source and binaries, and the freedom to publish
-improved versions. (See “The Free Software Definition,” on p. @refx{Definition-pg}{.) Whether any given program in source form is free software
-depends solely on the meaning of its license.
- </p>
- <a name="index-traps_002c-nonfree-dependencies">
- </a>
- <p>
- Whether the program can be used in the Free World, used by people
-who mean to live in freedom, is a more complex question. This is not
-determined by the program’s own license alone, because no program
-works in isolation. Every program depends on other programs. For
-instance, a program needs to be compiled or interpreted, so it depends
-on a compiler or interpreter. If compiled into byte code, it depends
-on a byte-code interpreter. Moreover, it needs libraries in order to
-run, and it may also invoke other separate programs that run in other
-processes. All of these programs are dependencies. Dependencies may
-be necessary for the program to run at all, or they may be necessary
-only for certain features. Either way, all or part of the program
-cannot operate without the dependencies.
- </p>
- <p>
- If some of a program’s dependencies are nonfree, this means that all
-or part of the program is unable to run in an entirely free
-system—it is unusable in the Free World. Sure, we could redistribute
-the program and have copies on our machines, but that’s not much good
-if it won’t run. That program is free software, but it is effectively
-shackled by its nonfree dependencies.
- </p>
- <p>
- This problem can occur in any kind of software, in any language. For
-instance, a free program that only runs on Microsoft
- <a name="index-Windows-3">
- </a>
- Windows is clearly useless in the Free World. But software that runs
-on GNU/Linux can also be useless if it depends on other nonfree
-software. In the past,
- <a name="index-Motif-_0028see-also-LessTif_0029-3">
- </a>
- Motif (before we had
- <a name="index-LessTif-_0028see-also-Motif_0029-3">
- </a>
- LessTif) and
- <a name="index-Qt-3">
- </a>
- Qt (before its developers made it free software) were major causes of
-this problem. Most 3D video cards work fully only with nonfree
-drivers, which also cause this problem. But the major source of this
-problem today is Java, because people who write free software often
-feel Java is sexy. Blinded by their attraction to the language, they
-overlook the issue of dependencies and fall into the Java Trap.
- </p>
- <a name="index-GNU_002c-GCJ">
- </a>
- <a name="index-GNU_002c-GNU-Classpath">
- </a>
- <p>
- Sun’s implementation of Java is nonfree. The standard Java libraries
-are nonfree also. We do have free implementations of Java, such as the
-GNU Compiler for Java (GCJ) and GNU Classpath, but they don’t support
-all the features yet. We are still catching up.
- </p>
- <p>
- If you develop a Java program on Sun’s Java platform, you are liable
-to use Sun-only features without even noticing. By the time you find
-this out, you may have been using them for months, and redoing the
-work could take more months. You might say, “It’s too much work to
-start over.” Then your program will have fallen into the Java Trap;
-it will be unusable in the Free World.
- </p>
- <p>
- The reliable way to avoid the Java Trap is to have only a free
-implementation of Java on your system. Then if you use a Java feature
-or library that free software does not yet support, you will find out
-straightaway, and you can rewrite that code immediately.
- </p>
- <p>
- Sun continues to develop additional “standard” Java libraries, and
-nearly all of them are nonfree; in many cases, even a library’s
-specification is a trade secret, and Sun’s latest license for these
-specifications prohibits release of anything less than a full
-implementation of the specification. (See
- <a href="http://jcp.org/aboutJava/communityprocess/JSPA2.pdf">
- http://jcp.org/aboutJava/communityprocess/JSPA2.pdf
- </a>
- and
- <a href="http://jcp.org/aboutJava/communityprocess/final/jsr129/j2me_pb-1_0-fr-spec-license.html">
- http://jcp.org/aboutJava/communityprocess/final/jsr129/j2me_pb-1_0-fr-spec-license.html
- </a>
- for examples.)
- <a name="index-Sun-Microsystems-3">
- </a>
- </p>
- <p>
- Fortunately, that specification license does permit releasing an
-implementation as free software; others who receive the library can be
-allowed to change it and are not required to adhere to the
-specification. But the requirement has the effect of prohibiting the
-use of a collaborative development model to produce the free
-implementation. Use of that model would entail publishing incomplete
-versions, something those who have read the spec are not allowed to
-do.
- </p>
- <p>
- In the early days of the free software movement, it was impossible
-to avoid depending on nonfree programs. Before we had the GNU C
-compiler, every
- <a name="index-C-programs-2">
- </a>
- C program (free or not) depended on a nonfree C
-compiler. Before we had the
- <a name="index-GNU_002c-GNU-C-Library-5">
- </a>
- GNU C library, every program depended on a
-nonfree
- <a name="index-C-library-6">
- </a>
- <a name="index-libraries-_0028comp_002e_0029_002c-C-6">
- </a>
- C library. Before we had Linux, the first free kernel, every
-program depended on a nonfree kernel. Before we had BASH, every
-shell
-script had to be interpreted by a nonfree shell. It was inevitable
-that our first programs would initially be hampered by these
-dependencies, but we accepted this because our plan included rescuing
-them subsequently. Our overall goal, a self-hosting
- <a name="index-GNU-_0028see-also-both-software-and-GNU_0029-8">
- </a>
- GNU operating
-system, included free replacements for all those dependencies; if we
-reached the goal, all our programs would be rescued. Thus it happened:
-with the GNU/Linux system, we can now run these programs on free
-platforms.
- </p>
- <p>
- The situation is different today. We now have powerful free
-operating systems and many free programming tools. Whatever job you
-want to do, you can do it on a free platform; there is no need to
-accept a nonfree dependency even temporarily. The main reason people
-fall into the trap today is because they are not thinking about
-it. The easiest solution to the problem is to teach people to
-recognize it and not fall into it.
- </p>
- <p>
- To keep your Java code safe from the Java Trap, install a free Java
-development environment and use it. More generally, whatever language
-you use, keep your eyes open, and check the free status of programs
-your code depends on. The easiest way to verify that a program is free
-is by looking for it in the Free Software Directory
-(
- <a href="http://fsf.org/directory">
- http://fsf.org/directory
- </a>
- ). If a program is not in the
-directory, you can check its license(s) against the list of free
-software licenses
-(
- <a href="http://gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html">
- http://gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html
- </a>
- ).
- </p>
- <p>
- We are trying to rescue the trapped Java programs, so if you like
-the Java language, we invite you to help in developing GNU
-Classpath. Trying your programs with the GCJ Compiler and GNU
-Classpath, and reporting any problems you encounter in classes already
-implemented, is also useful. However, finishing GNU Classpath will
-take time; if more nonfree libraries continue to be added, we may
-never have all the latest ones. So please don’t put your free software
-in shackles. When you write an application program today, write it to
-run on free facilities from the start.
- <a name="index-libraries-_0028comp_002e_0029_002c-as-traps-2">
- </a>
- <a name="index-traps_002c-nonfree-libraries-3">
- </a>
- <a name="index-Java-2">
- </a>
- <a name="index-GNU_002c-GCJ-1">
- </a>
- <a name="index-traps_002c-nonfree-dependencies-1">
- </a>
- <a name="index-GNU_002c-GNU-Classpath-1">
- </a>
- </p>
- <hr size="2"/>
-