super-sablevm source package - an idea

Hi,

It took some time for this idea to mature (also thanks to discussions
with Etienne) but I think it's time to think about it seriously.

The goal would be to:
1) allow an average user to install and use SableVM easily, directly
from sources,
2) ensure that user gets everything he might need to use SableVM in
his Java environment in a powerful manner.

ad 1) We would like to get rid of common hassles a user has to fight
with, like installation (or what's worse compilation from gcc sources)
of libffi and maybe some other, less-comonly used libraries.

ad 2) SableVM is "only a JVM" so alone it's not very useful by itself.
When *I* want to use SableVM in fact I also need a few other things that
might or might not come with my operating system.  Also in case of
non-debian distributions these "other things" are not always available
and even if they are - they're rarely configured to seemlessly work with
SableVM.

The idea on how to improve this situation would be to distribute not
only SableVM but a kind of super-package, a superset of SableVM. SableVM
enriched with a set of not-too-big-but-useful additions.  From user POV
it should still be as easy as "configure ... && make install". I already
have a preliminary version that binds together sablevm and
sablevm-classpath (let's skip technical details for the moment).

I was thinking of what kind of software we might want to include.
Here's my list (all sizes are of compressed sources):

* sablevm - LGPL
* sablevm-classpath - GPL + exception
* libvm (500kB, used if no libffi, or used by default?) - weaker BSD
* sablevm-test-suite (BTF tests, optionally built) - LGPL
* jasmin-sable (200kB, needed to build test suite, optional) - LGPL
* cp-tools (pure-java javah, javap etc. very small) - GPL
* gjdoc (javadoc-like tool, 120kB) - GPL
* gnujaxp (needed for XML support, 950kB) - GPL + flawed exception
* jikes (only 800kB) - IBM Public License (IPL)

Other possible sources:
* libpopt (quite big, 600kB source :-( built-on-demand) - X license
* tritonus (Java Sound API, haven't looked closely yet) - LGPL
* libswt? swingwt? - IPL

The super-sablevm tarball would be then about 3MB bigger than
what we distribute currently - sablevm+classpath are over 4MB big
(I didn't count libpopt nor tritonus).  I don't think 7 over 4MB
actually makes any practical difference.  On the plus side - after
installation user should get a complete java environment based on
SableVM.

OK, let's stop here for now.

Opinions?  Comments?

			Grzegorz B. Prokopski

PS: We would still keep distributing sablevm, sablevm-classpath and
libvm tarballs separately for those who prefer that kind of packaging.

PPS: Please note that all GPLed software mentioned above is only
utility-like, and will be merely-aggregated with all other software
in super-sablevm tarball, so it should be safe to distribute.

GNUJAXP is an unfortunate exception here, as it still carries the old,
ambiguous version of the GPL exception text.  But we're not going to
modify this library, so we should be safe from turning it into pure GPL.
-- 
Grzegorz B. Prokopski           <[email protected]>
SableVM - Free, LGPL'ed Java VM  http://sablevm.org
Why SableVM ?!?                  http://sablevm.org/wiki/Features
Debian GNU/Linux - the Free OS   http://www.debian.org