Re: JNIPort - is there anyone willing to maintain it?

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Joachim,

Cincom has basically abandoned the VWNC distribution.  The "latest" version
one can obtain without paying for a license is VW 8.3, which was released
in 2017.

it's hard to imagine people spending a lot of time and effort enhancing a
system that old, when the vendor isn't committed to it.  I'm sure Cincom is
committed to the paying customers, but why should we help with that?

--Tom



On Wed, Sep 24, 2025 at 4:36=E2=80=AFAM Joachim Geidel <joachim.geidel@post=
eo.de>
wrote:

> Dear fellow Smalltalkers,
>
> JNIPort is an interface from Smalltalk to the Java VM which was originall=
y
> developed by Chris Uppal for Dolphin Smalltalk. It enables Smalltalk
> applications to use software written in Java seamlessly, locally and with
> low overhead, without resorting to network based interfaces like e.g. usi=
ng
> microservices. Documentation is at
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://sites.google.com/site/jniport/__;!!DZ=
3fjg!9JVpDqpxcqz6oMahTzP21-BTpfMxRHsi1HUS30Yd6Gm-8j4kRcgBOLmg6z342WonIj_duR=
g_d-WBWHHLFGX2ohB5doAnD8eNKbqwGQFahg$
> .
>
> I have ported JNIPort to VisualWorks and Pharo, and Ben van Dijk, Adriaan
> van Os and Rolf van der Vleuten have ported it to VASt (
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://vastgoodies.com/projects/JNIPort__;!!=
DZ3fjg!9JVpDqpxcqz6oMahTzP21-BTpfMxRHsi1HUS30Yd6Gm-8j4kRcgBOLmg6z342WonIj_d=
uRg_d-WBWHHLFGX2ohB5doAnD8eNKbql_CqFlw$
> ).
>
> The last time I really worked on JNIPort was in 2014, if I remember
> correctly. Now that I am retired and haven=E2=80=99t written a single lin=
e of
> Smalltalk code in five years, I am wondering if there is anybody willing =
to
> take over.
>
> I haven=E2=80=99t had any enquiries about JNIPort since 2020, so the task=
 would be
> easy:
> - Take over ownership of the documentation site.
> - Possibly move the source code for the Pharo version to Gitlab (it is
> still in the ancient SmalltalkHub repository).
> - Optionally integrate any changes from JNIPort users, e.g. when they
> adapt it to more recent versions of VisualWorks or Pharo. There hasn't be=
en
> any community input since 2017 (or was it 2019?).
>
> If nobody takes over, then JNIPort will be one of the many abandoned open
> source projects and disappear sooner or later when SmalltalkHub, the Cinc=
om
> Public Repository and the documentation site are switched off.
>
> On the other hand, I do not know if there is actually anybody using
> JNIPort. If it has no users, there is no harm in its disappearance, and
> maintaining it would be a waste of time.
>
> Cheers
> Joachim Geidel

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<div dir=3D"ltr">Joachim,<div><br></div><div>Cincom has basically abandoned=
 the VWNC distribution.=C2=A0 The &quot;latest&quot; version one can obtain=
 without paying for a license is VW 8.3, which was released in 2017.</div><=
div><br></div><div>it&#39;s hard to imagine people spending a lot of time a=
nd effort enhancing a system that old, when the vendor isn&#39;t committed =
to it.=C2=A0 I&#39;m sure Cincom is committed to the paying customers, but =
why should we help with=C2=A0that?</div><div><br></div><div>--Tom</div><div=
><br></div><div><br></div></div><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote gmail_quote_c=
ontainer"><div dir=3D"ltr" class=3D"gmail_attr">On Wed, Sep 24, 2025 at 4:3=
6=E2=80=AFAM Joachim Geidel &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]"=
>[email protected]</a>&gt; wrote:<br></div><blockquote class=3D"gmai=
l_quote" style=3D"margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,20=
4,204);padding-left:1ex">Dear fellow Smalltalkers,<br>
<br>
JNIPort is an interface from Smalltalk to the Java VM which was originally =
developed by Chris Uppal for Dolphin Smalltalk. It enables Smalltalk applic=
ations to use software written in Java seamlessly, locally and with low ove=
rhead, without resorting to network based interfaces like e.g. using micros=
ervices. Documentation is at <a href=3D"https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/=
/sites.google.com/site/jniport/__;!!DZ3fjg!9JVpDqpxcqz6oMahTzP21-BTpfMxRHsi=
1HUS30Yd6Gm-8j4kRcgBOLmg6z342WonIj_duRg_d-WBWHHLFGX2ohB5doAnD8eNKbqwGQFahg$=
" rel=3D"noreferrer" target=3D"_blank">https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://=
sites.google.com/site/jniport/__;!!DZ3fjg!9JVpDqpxcqz6oMahTzP21-BTpfMxRHsi1=
HUS30Yd6Gm-8j4kRcgBOLmg6z342WonIj_duRg_d-WBWHHLFGX2ohB5doAnD8eNKbqwGQFahg$<=
/a> .<br>
<br>
I have ported JNIPort to VisualWorks and Pharo, and Ben van Dijk, Adriaan v=
an Os and Rolf van der Vleuten have ported it to VASt (<a href=3D"https://u=
rldefense.com/v3/__https://vastgoodies.com/projects/JNIPort__;!!DZ3fjg!9JVp=
Dqpxcqz6oMahTzP21-BTpfMxRHsi1HUS30Yd6Gm-8j4kRcgBOLmg6z342WonIj_duRg_d-WBWHH=
LFGX2ohB5doAnD8eNKbql_CqFlw$" rel=3D"noreferrer" target=3D"_blank">https://=
urldefense.com/v3/__https://vastgoodies.com/projects/JNIPort__;!!DZ3fjg!9JV=
pDqpxcqz6oMahTzP21-BTpfMxRHsi1HUS30Yd6Gm-8j4kRcgBOLmg6z342WonIj_duRg_d-WBWH=
HLFGX2ohB5doAnD8eNKbql_CqFlw$</a> ).<br>
<br>
The last time I really worked on JNIPort was in 2014, if I remember correct=
ly. Now that I am retired and haven=E2=80=99t written a single line of Smal=
ltalk code in five years, I am wondering if there is anybody willing to tak=
e over.<br>
<br>
I haven=E2=80=99t had any enquiries about JNIPort since 2020, so the task w=
ould be easy:<br>
- Take over ownership of the documentation site.<br>
- Possibly move the source code for the Pharo version to Gitlab (it is stil=
l in the ancient SmalltalkHub repository).<br>
- Optionally integrate any changes from JNIPort users, e.g. when they adapt=
 it to more recent versions of VisualWorks or Pharo. There hasn&#39;t been =
any community input since 2017 (or was it 2019?).<br>
<br>
If nobody takes over, then JNIPort will be one of the many abandoned open s=
ource projects and disappear sooner or later when SmalltalkHub, the Cincom =
Public Repository and the documentation site are switched off.<br>
<br>
On the other hand, I do not know if there is actually anybody using JNIPort=
. If it has no users, there is no harm in its disappearance, and maintainin=
g it would be a waste of time.<br>
<br>
Cheers<br>
Joachim Geidel</blockquote></div>

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