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diff --git a/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/scrap1_34.html b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/scrap1_34.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e85cd98 --- /dev/null +++ b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/scrap1_34.html @@ -0,0 +1,282 @@ +<!-- 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"/> + |