This is the draft of a policies and procedures document for Java applications and libraries installed in the .

Java debian package A Java application, applet, servlet, or class library that has been compiled and built for use in a Debian installation. [packagename] refers to the name of some specific Java debian package in an example. Java package The package that a class is defined to be in by a "package foo.bar.baz" statement at the top of its .java source file. jar file A Java ARchive file generated by the "jar" utility or its equivalent.

Java code may be configured and launched in a wide variety of ways; this is natural consequence of its flexible architecture. Major categories include: application A program, much like one coded in any other language, which may be launched from the command-line or similar, can take command-line arguments and java properties, and has very few restrictions on behavior. A java application is associated with a class which has a method with the signature "public static void main(String[] args)". This method is the entry point for the application. An application typically runs in its own virtual machine. applet This is a class which extends java.awt.Applet, and is designed to be embedded in graphical environments with security restrictions such as a web browser. It typically shares a virtual machine with other applets (e.g., in the same web browser). servlet This is the server-side equivalent to an applet. Servlets are non-graphical, but are designed to share a virtual machine with other servlets and run under security restrictions. embedded virtual machine A java runtime may be embedded in other, non-java applications. In fact, this is essentially the way the previous three categories are constructed, and therefore other categories may arise in the future by embedding a virtual machine in an application and defining conventions on what sort of java code is launched and manipulated in that machine. Java environment policies Execution environment

Java executables require an environment to run in; this environment includes native libraries, java core libraries, commands, etc. Custom vs. transparent environments

While a java-like environment may, of course add whatever extensions and goodies they like to the standard tools, a transparent, standard java environment must hide or disable these. This is of concern when we consider truly "pluggable" virtual machines - if we allow an environment to override, for example, the "javac" command, then that overriding command must accept the same arguments and provide the same functionality as Sun's "javac" command. Non-critical issues such as the formatting of compiler warnings, etc. should be of no concern, but command-line syntax should be.

The existing "alternatives" policy shall apply to executables that override standard java commands, or for that matter, which overlap commands from other java environments, standard or not. Class library policies

Java class libraries may consist of some number of compiled .class files, along with any class resources and supporting native libraries needed. This section refers only to executable-independent, shared class libraries. The .class files and class resources for a library shall be combined into a single .jar file. Library jar files should be placed in the /usr/share/java directory; system administrators may install non-Debian jar files to /usr/local/share/java. A configurable path, much like LD_LIBRARY_PATH, will be used by wrapper scripts to decide where to look for library files. This allows system administrators or end users flexibility in their environment. Compatible releases of jarfiles can share major/minor release numbers, and be referenced using links (e.g. foobar-1.1.jar -> foobar-1.1.6.jar) much like the current .so file scheme. Library jar files should be accompanied by JavaDoc or equivalent documentation in /usr/doc/[packagename] upstream maintainers should be encouraged to use standard Java package naming conventions (e.g. "package org.debian.*" for classes maintained by the Debian organization).