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47-684: GNU Classpath was deemed a high priority project by the Free Software Foundation . When the Classpath project began, the license for the official Java implementation from Sun Microsystems did not allow distribution of any alterations. Since the inception of the Classpath project, the OpenJDK was released under the GPL and now serves as the official reference implementation for the Java platform . GNU Classpath

94-421: A path name that included the word java (such as /usr/lib/java ), it was a way to evoke the name Java without actually saying it. Fisher and other developers didn't like the unsightly use of the $ and all capital letters and settled on Classpath . The maintainer takes care of the legal side of the project, prepares the regular project releases and does some quality management. The maintainer also grants

141-482: A web store . FSF offers speakers and seminars for pay, and all FSF projects accept donations. Revenues fund free-software programs and campaigns, while cash is invested conservatively in socially responsible investing . The financial strategy is designed to maintain the Foundation's long-term future through economic stability. The FSF is a tax-exempt organization and posts annual IRS Form 990 filings online. Through

188-497: A "Respects Your Freedom" (RYF) hardware certification program. To be granted certification, a product must use 100% Free Software, allow user installation of modified software, be free of backdoors and conform with several other requirements. The FSF's board of directors includes professors at leading universities, senior engineers, and founders. Current board members are: Previous board members include: Executive directors include: The FSF Articles of Organization state that

235-434: A branch, but to the most recent commit on a given branch, and both the trunk and each named branch has its own head. The trunk is usually meant to be the base of a project on which development progresses. If developers are working exclusively on the trunk (so called trunk-based development ), it always contains the latest cutting-edge version of the project, but therefore may also be the most unstable version. Another approach

282-617: A free smartphone operating system and creating replacements for Skype and Siri . Previous projects highlighted as needing work included the Free Java implementations , GNU Classpath , and GNU Compiler for Java , which ensure compatibility for the Java part of OpenOffice.org , and the GNOME desktop environment (see Java: Licensing ). The effort has been criticized by Michael Larabel for either not instigating active development or for being slow at

329-569: Is a fundamental difference between speaking out against policies or actions and smear campaigns", and "that if one is taking an ethical position, it is justified, and often necessary, to not only speak about the benefits of freedom but against acts of dispossession and disenfranchisement." In 2009, a license update of LibDWG/ LibreDWG to version 3 of the GNU GPL made it impossible for the free software projects LibreCAD and FreeCAD to use LibreDWG legally. Many projects voiced their unhappiness about

376-555: Is also the steward of several free software licenses, meaning it publishes them and has the ability to make revisions as needed. The FSF holds the copyrights on many pieces of the GNU system, such as GNU Compiler Collection . As the holder of these copyrights, it has authority to enforce the copyleft requirements of the GNU General Public License (GPL) when copyright infringement occurs. From 1991 until 2001, GPL enforcement

423-618: Is an FSF-initiated campaign against DRM. It also has a campaign to promote Ogg + Vorbis , a free alternative to proprietary formats like AAC and MQA . FSF also sponsors free software projects it deems "high-priority". " Outstanding new Free Software contributor ", " Award for the Advancement of Free Software " and " Free Software Award for Projects of Social Benefit " The LibrePlanet wiki organizes FSF members into regional groups in order to promote free software activism against digital restrictions management and other issues promoted by

470-443: Is called the "MAIN" branch. Git uses "master" by default, although GitHub and GitLab switched to "main" after the murder of George Floyd . In CVSNT , a shadow or magic branch "shadows" changes made in the upstream branch, to make it easier to maintain small changes (cvc is an open-source package building system incorporating a revision-control system for packages produced by rPath .) In distributed revision control ,

517-517: Is licensed under the GNU General Public License with a linking exception . This is a free software license . All code is formally owned by the Free Software Foundation , and this owner is bound by its own contractual obligations to the developers. GNU Classpath is used by many free Java runtimes (like Kaffe , SableVM , JamVM , Jikes RVM , and VMKit) because every full-featured Java virtual machine must provide an implementation of

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564-439: Is now no longer supported. After implementing the majority of the official Java 1.4 API, the work in the project became more bug oriented rather than API coverage oriented. On October 24, 2006, the implementation of the last missing 1.4 class, HTMLWriter , was committed. The development speed (computed mathematically as the average number of the new lines of code per day) reached its highest ever in 2006. The name GNU Classpath

611-520: Is solicited. Eben Moglen and Dan Ravicher previously served individually as pro bono legal counsel to the FSF. After forming the Software Freedom Law Center , Eben Moglen continued to serve as the FSF's general counsel until 2016. Most of the FSF funding comes from patrons and members. Revenue streams also come from free-software-related compliance labs, job postings, published works, and

658-417: Is sometimes called the parent branch , the upstream branch (or simply upstream , especially if the branches are maintained by different organizations or individuals), or the backing stream . Child branches are branches that have a parent; a branch without a parent is referred to as the trunk or the mainline . The trunk is also sometimes loosely referred to as HEAD, but properly head refers not to

705-413: Is the duplication of an object under version control (such as a source code file or a directory tree ). Each object can thereafter be modified separately and in parallel so that the objects become different. In this context the objects are called branches . The users of the version control system can branch any branch. Branches are also known as trees , streams or codelines . The originating branch

752-533: Is to split a branch off the trunk, implement changes in that branch and merge the changes back into the trunk when the branch has proven to be stable and working. Depending on development mode and commit policy the trunk may contain the most stable or the least stable or something-in-between version. Other terms for trunk include baseline, mainline, and master, though in some cases these are used with similar but distinct senses – see version control § Common terminology . Often main developer work takes place in

799-523: The CVS access permissions. GNU Classpath has no formal hierarchy. The work is done by the most technically capable, and there is no strict work division either. All code changes are first posted to the discussion list as patches where they can be opposed if needed. The project typically receives between five and eight patches per day. The GNU Classpath library code coverage progress can be tracked against OpenJDK6 and OpenJDK7. GNU Classpath contains classes from

846-653: The GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL), the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL), and the GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL). The FSF's publishing department, responsible for "publishing affordable books on computer science using freely distributable licenses." This is a list of software packages that have been verified as free software. Each package entry contains up to 47 pieces of information such as

893-508: The board of directors are elected. The bylaws say who can vote for them. The board can grant powers to the Voting Membership. At any given time, there are usually around a dozen employees. Most, but not all, worked at the FSF headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts until August 2024 when the FSF closed its offices and switched to remote work. On November 25, 2002, the FSF launched

940-618: The h-node website lists hardware and device drivers that have been verified as compatible with free software. It is user-edited and volunteer supported with hardware entries tested by users before publication. FSF sponsors a number of campaigns against what it perceives as dangers to software freedom, including software patents , digital rights management (which the FSF and others have re-termed "digital restrictions management", as part of its effort to highlight technologies that are "designed to take away and limit your rights", ) and user interface copyright. Since 2012, Defective by Design

987-546: The FSF Associate Membership program for individuals. Bradley M. Kuhn (FSF executive director, 2001–2005) launched the program and also signed up as the first Associate Member Associate members are primarily an honorary and funding support role. In 2023, associate members gained the ability to make board nominations, along with FSF staff and FSF voting members. There is also an annual meeting of FSF members, usually during lunch at LibrePlanet, in which feedback for FSF

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1034-421: The FSF aims to use only free software on its own computers. The Free Software Foundation was founded in 1985 as a non-profit corporation supporting free software development. It continued existing GNU projects such as the sale of manuals and tapes , and employed developers of the free software system. Since then, it has continued these activities, as well as advocating for the free software movement. The FSF

1081-643: The FSF. The FSF maintains a list of "high-priority projects" to which the Foundation claims that "there is a vital need to draw the free software community 's attention". The FSF considers these projects "important because computer users are continually being seduced into using non-free software , because there is no adequate free replacement." As of 2021, high-priority tasks include reverse engineering proprietary firmware, reversible debugging in GNU Debugger ; developing automatic transcription and video editing software, Coreboot , drivers for network routers ,

1128-555: The GNU Project and in 2021, he returned to the FSF board of directors. The original purpose of the FSF was to promote the ideals of free software. The organization envisaged the GNU operating system as an example of this. The GNU General Public License (GPL) is a widely used license for free software projects. The current version (version 3) was released in June 2007. The FSF has also published

1175-647: The GPL. In May 2009, Cisco and FSF reached settlement under which Cisco agreed to make a monetary donation to the FSF and appoint a Free Software Director to conduct continuous reviews of the company's license compliance practices. In September 2019, Richard Stallman resigned as president of the FSF after pressure from journalists and members of the open source community in response to him making controversial comments in defense of Marvin Minsky on Jeffrey Epstein 's sex trafficking scandal. Nevertheless, Stallman remained head of

1222-520: The GPLv3 license selection for LibreDWG, such as FreeCAD , LibreCAD , Assimp , and Blender . Some suggested the selection of a license with a broader license compatibility , for instance the MIT , BSD , or LGPL 2.1. A request went to the FSF to relicense GNU LibreDWG as GPLv2, which was rejected in 2012. Branching (software) Branching , in version control and software configuration management ,

1269-517: The assistance of Moglen, David Turner, and Peter T. Brown , formalized these efforts into FSF's GPL Compliance Labs. From 2002–2004, high-profile GPL enforcement cases, such as those against Linksys and OpenTV, became frequent. GPL enforcement and educational campaigns on GPL compliance was a major focus of the FSF's efforts during this period. In March 2003, SCO filed suit against IBM alleging that IBM's contributions to various free software, including FSF's GNU, violated SCO's rights. While FSF

1316-479: The case of GCJ, it uses ecj to perform this initial stage, then converts the bytecode to native code. From 0.95 onwards, GNU Classpath also supports compiling and running the newly GPLed open-source javac compiler using GNU Classpath and also allows the GNU Classpath class library, tools and examples to be compiled with javac itself. GNU Classpath does not accept any code that has a non-free license, or that

1363-469: The codebase, for example, fixes for bugs, new features , and versions integration . These changes may be later merged (resynchronized) after testing. A development branch or development tree of a piece of software is a version that is under development , and has not yet been officially released . In the open source community, the notion of release is typically metaphorical, since anyone can usually check out any desired version, whether it be in

1410-405: The development branch or not. Often, the version that will eventually become the next major version is called the development branch. However, there is often more than one subsequent version of the software under development at a given time. Often, the development branch is the trunk . Some revision control systems have specific jargon for the main development branch. For example, in CVS , it

1457-406: The first effort to give formal legal education on the GPL. In 2007, the FSF published the third version of the GNU General Public License after significant outside input. In December 2008, FSF filed a lawsuit against Cisco for using GPL-licensed components shipped with Linksys products. Cisco was notified of the licensing issue in 2003 but Cisco repeatedly disregarded its obligations under

GNU Classpath - Misplaced Pages Continue

1504-411: The keyword native , indicating the necessity of the supporting native library. Such libraries are provided by the authors of a Java virtual machine, hence GNU Classpath can be connected to nearly any Java virtual machine if the sources of such virtual machine are available and can be modified. Before version 0.95, each GNU Classpath release consisted of two separate release tarballs; one that represented

1551-586: The license itself. Linus Torvalds has criticized FSF for using GPLv3 as a weapon in the fight against DRM. Torvalds argues that the issue of DRM and that of a software license should be treated as two separate issues. On June 16, 2010, Joe Brockmeier, a journalist at Linux Magazine , criticized the Defective by Design campaign by the FSF as "negative" and "juvenile" and not being adequate for providing users with "credible alternatives" to proprietary software. FSF responded to this criticism by saying "that there

1598-412: The official Java API namespace. Where calls to native code are necessary or highly desired, this is done from a small number of "VM" classes. The name of such a VM class matches the name of the class requiring native methods, plus the additional VM prefix: VMObject, VMString and so on. VM classes, stored separately from the rest of code, are package private and final . The methods of these classes contain

1645-516: The official printed OMG specifications. Hence this part of GNU Classpath is as free as any other code in the project. Free Software Foundation The Free Software Foundation ( FSF ) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Richard Stallman on October 4, 1985. The organisation supports the free software movement , with the organization's preference for software being distributed under copyleft ("share alike") terms, such as with its own GNU General Public License . The FSF

1692-655: The parent branch. Often the changes are merged back to the trunk, even if this is not the parent branch. A branch not intended to be merged (e.g. because it has been relicensed under an incompatible license by a third party, or it attempts to serve a different purpose) is usually called a fork . Branches allow for parts of software to be developed in parallel. Large projects require many roles to be filled, including developers, build managers, and quality assurance personnel. Further, multiple releases on different operating system platforms may have to be maintained. Branches allow contributors to isolate changes without destabilizing

1739-495: The project's homepage, developers, programming language, etc. The goals are to provide a search engine for free software, and to provide a cross-reference for users to check if a package has been verified as being free software. The FSF has received a small amount of funding from UNESCO for this project. FSF maintains many of the documents that define the free software movement. FSF hosts software development projects on its Savannah website. An abbreviation for "Hardware-Node",

1786-437: The standard class libraries. Some other uses include: GNU Classpath development started in 1998 with five developers. During the history, it merged several times with other projects having similar goals ( Kaffe , libgcj). In the past, GNU Classpath supplied its own virtual machine (Japhar). As Classpath was becoming a base library, shared with a lot of different projects, this virtual machine received less and less attention and

1833-472: The state of the main development branch and another that contained the contents of a more experimental branch, supporting the additions, such as generics, enumerations and annotations, present in Java 1.5. Since version 0.95, Java 1.5 additions like generics have been fully integrated into the main branch. The branch can be built by using the Eclipse compiler, ecj, to compile Java 1.5 source code to bytecode. In

1880-440: The trunk and stable versions are branched, and occasional bug-fixes are merged from branches to the trunk. When development of future versions is done in non-trunk branches, it is usually done for projects that do not change often, or where a change is expected to take a long time to develop until it will be ready for incorporating in the trunk. Branching generally implies the ability to later merge or integrate changes back onto

1927-410: The work being done, even after certain projects were added to the list. The FSF maintains a list of approved Linux operating systems that maintain free software by default: The project also maintains a list of operating systems that are not versions of the GNU system: The following are previously endorsed operating systems that are no longer actively maintained : Since 2012, the FSF maintains

GNU Classpath - Misplaced Pages Continue

1974-406: The years the FSF has had its postal address, and until August 31st 2024 when going all remote its physical headquarters, at different locations in Boston , Massachusetts , USA , as indicated in the table below. As the GNU GPL v2 included the FSF's postal address in one of the first lines of the introduction and the source code license notice template every change of address also caused updates to

2021-512: Was automatically generated from code with a non-free license. The standard Java API contains numerous classes from the omg.org domain that are normally generated from the IDL files, released by the Object Management Group . The "use, but no modify" license of these files counts as non-free. For this reason, the mentioned classes in the GNU Classpath project were written from scratch, using only

2068-465: Was done informally, usually by Stallman himself, often with assistance from FSF's lawyer, Eben Moglen . Typically, GPL violations during this time were cleared up by short email exchanges between Stallman and the violator. In the interest of promoting copyleft assertiveness by software companies to the level that the FSF was already doing, in 2004 Harald Welte launched gpl-violations.org . In late 2001, Bradley M. Kuhn (then executive director), with

2115-512: Was incorporated in Boston, Massachusetts , United States, where it is also based. From its founding until the mid-1990s, FSF's funds were mostly used to employ software developers to write free software for the GNU Project and its employees and volunteers have mostly worked on legal and structural issues for the free software movement and the free software community . Consistent with its goals,

2162-440: Was never a party to the lawsuit, FSF was subpoenaed on November 5, 2003. During 2003 and 2004, FSF put substantial advocacy effort into responding to the lawsuit and quelling its negative impact on the adoption and promotion of free software. From 2003 to 2005, FSF held legal seminars to explain the GPL and the surrounding law. Usually taught by Bradley M. Kuhn and Daniel Ravicher , these seminars offered CLE credit and were

2209-500: Was originally suggested by Bradley M. Kuhn to one of the first developers, Paul Fisher. At the time, there was great concern in the Free Java implementations community about enforcement of Sun's trademark on Java against free implementations. Kuhn suggested the name $ CLASSPATH , which is the environment variable used by most Java systems to indicate where the Java libraries reside on the computer. Since $ CLASSPATH often expanded to

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