Guillaume Desnoix and I did discussed about it 2 years ago. JDistro is amount the most well known projects with regard to the topic of Java desktops. And in my opinion JDistro is also one of the best Java desktop projects out there. Sadly, I was too busy back then and did not manage to commit to any collaboration work with him and Michael Emmel. (Two very talented Java developers) Refer to discussion: http://www.javalobby.org/java/forums/m91782189.html
Well, Guillaume put it this way, "I see no division here, only two different projects with different goals."
I can only speak for JD4X but I'll invite Guillaume to post here if he so desires.
JD4X:
- JD4X is 80% Java 20% C while JDistro is completely Java.
- JD4X hopes to move to an Open Source "Java" platform that is currently still incomplete. (GNU Classpath + ?Jvm)
- JD4X depends on X while JDistro does not.
- JD4X support native applications while JDistro cannot. However, JDistro + WiredX can also do the same thing as JD4X.
- JD4X does not share its Jvm with any other Java application but there is a plugin framework that can allow that to be done while JDistro runs everything in a single Jvm.
- JD4X is currently only targeted for the Linux OS (contain platform specific code) while JDistro is "platform independent".
- JD4X is not limited to Java only and allows low level integration with the OS code, while JDistro does not. Which means JD4X can do a lot more stuff directly when compared to JDistro.
- ...
Lots of regrets not collaborating with them when I had the opportunity. However, these days Looking Glass is getting all the Java developers support. Being from Sun and all, it has mainly weaked our desktop efforts ...
Regards.
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Thank you for your interest in java desktops, and for JD4X and JDistro in particular. The answer of Tay is perfectly accurate and I don't have too much to add. Just a few comments:
- JDistro will run on Classpath as soon as possible (when the swing api will be available)
- JDistro can launch native applications but can not manage graphical ones. There is a work in progress for having an X11 window manager (based on Escher.sf.net and Puppet) but this is on low priority.
- JDistro is and will stay 100% Java. But we can still provide some integration using sockets, files or processes or a separate small JVM with admin privileges and some JNI code. No code yet written.
Concerning Looking Glass, this project is neither a shared runtime nor a swing desktop so I don't see it as a "competitor".
About collaborating, while the cores of JD4X and JDistro are different, I'm sure there is some modules of JD4X we could run on JDistro (like the window manager) and some modules of JDistro (jnlp, jdic, yak, jsh, ...) we could run on JD4X. I wish I have more time...
Best regards, Guillaume
PS: JDistro 0.35 was released yesterday
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Hi,
What is the difference between dj4x and JDistro?
Are you sharing any effort?
Cheers
JD
Guillaume Desnoix and I did discussed about it 2 years ago. JDistro is amount the most well known projects with regard to the topic of Java desktops. And in my opinion JDistro is also one of the best Java desktop projects out there. Sadly, I was too busy back then and did not manage to commit to any collaboration work with him and Michael Emmel. (Two very talented Java developers) Refer to discussion: http://www.javalobby.org/java/forums/m91782189.html
Well, Guillaume put it this way, "I see no division here, only two different projects with different goals."
I can only speak for JD4X but I'll invite Guillaume to post here if he so desires.
JD4X:
- JD4X is 80% Java 20% C while JDistro is completely Java.
- JD4X hopes to move to an Open Source "Java" platform that is currently still incomplete. (GNU Classpath + ?Jvm)
- JD4X depends on X while JDistro does not.
- JD4X support native applications while JDistro cannot. However, JDistro + WiredX can also do the same thing as JD4X.
- JD4X does not share its Jvm with any other Java application but there is a plugin framework that can allow that to be done while JDistro runs everything in a single Jvm.
- JD4X is currently only targeted for the Linux OS (contain platform specific code) while JDistro is "platform independent".
- JD4X is not limited to Java only and allows low level integration with the OS code, while JDistro does not. Which means JD4X can do a lot more stuff directly when compared to JDistro.
- ...
Lots of regrets not collaborating with them when I had the opportunity. However, these days Looking Glass is getting all the Java developers support. Being from Sun and all, it has mainly weaked our desktop efforts ...
Regards.
Hi,
Thank you for your interest in java desktops, and for JD4X and JDistro in particular. The answer of Tay is perfectly accurate and I don't have too much to add. Just a few comments:
- JDistro will run on Classpath as soon as possible (when the swing api will be available)
- JDistro can launch native applications but can not manage graphical ones. There is a work in progress for having an X11 window manager (based on Escher.sf.net and Puppet) but this is on low priority.
- JDistro is and will stay 100% Java. But we can still provide some integration using sockets, files or processes or a separate small JVM with admin privileges and some JNI code. No code yet written.
Concerning Looking Glass, this project is neither a shared runtime nor a swing desktop so I don't see it as a "competitor".
About collaborating, while the cores of JD4X and JDistro are different, I'm sure there is some modules of JD4X we could run on JDistro (like the window manager) and some modules of JDistro (jnlp, jdic, yak, jsh, ...) we could run on JD4X. I wish I have more time...
Best regards, Guillaume
PS: JDistro 0.35 was released yesterday