#!wml #use wml::std::page #use wml::std::lang #use wml::fmt::isolatin #use wml::std::case global=upper #include

GNU Classpath is a set of essential libraries for supporting the Java language. Our goal is to provide a free replacement for Sun's proprietary class libraries so that the GNU system can run programs written in the Java language.

Classpath is licensed under the terms of the with the following special exception.

As a special exception, if you link this library with other files to produce an executable, this library does not by itself cause the resulting executable to be covered by the GNU General Public License. This exception does not however invalidate any other reasons why the executable file might be covered by the GNU General Public License.

As such, it can be used to run free as well as proprietary applications and applets.

Classpath is a work in progress. There have been no public releases; however, pre-release source code is available via GNU's anonymous CVS server, and snapshots of the Classpath tree have been released and are available from . CVSROOT is :pserver:anoncvs@subversions.gnu.org:/cvs; Module is classpath. There is no password. If it is diffult to use CVS perhaps because you are behind a firewall, then you may download the entire CVS tree from . This archive is updated nightly and can be used by setting your local CVSROOT environment variable and performing a checkout from the local tree.

Announcements

  • (2001-01-06)
  • (2000-11-20)
  • (1999-02-06)

Documentation

Mailing List

There is one general discussion list for Classpath. You may to the mailing list via the web. However, you may also just send an email message with a subject of "subscribe" to . You may from the mailing list via the web as well. To send a message to the list, mail it to . An of the list is available which dates back to the beginning of the project. A new, but less comprehensive, archive of the mailing list is now located on .

Status

We're aiming for GNU Classpath 1.0 to be fully compatible with Java 1.1 and largely compatible with Java 1.2. Detailed information on the current state of a package can be obtained by clicking on the appropriate link below.

Virtual Machines

The primary target for GNU Classpath was originally . Japhar-0.07 works out-of-the-box with GNU Classpath-0.00. Japhar-0.09 is required for newer releases of GNU Classpath. In the past couple of years no one has been able to take over the maintenance of Japhar and once again Japhar does not work with GNU Classpath CVS. Thankfully other VMs have taken an interest in GNU Classpath and those are listed below.

First is . Although GNU Classpath cannot be compiled for use with GCJ at this time, a lot of work has been done to merge GCJ class library code and GNU Classpath class library code. This has resulted in a better version of each. The current merge status between the two projects is .

A second VM is , or Open Runtime Platform. Information about ORP can also be found at . We're hopeful that the next version of ORP after 1.0.6 will allow users to optionally use GNU Classpath native libraries instead of those bundled with ORP. ORP is the easiest VM to test GNU Classpath with including JNI native libraries but you must patch ORP to do so. Information is available in the mailing list archives.

A third VM is . This VM includes a modified version of the GNU Classpath libraries.

A fourth VM is . This VM also uses a modified version of the GNU Classpath libraries.

A fifth VM is . This VM also uses a modified version of the GNU Classpath libraries.