OSG Software plans for migration from Java 6

OSG community:

The OSG Software team is requesting feedback on its plan to migrate packages from Oracle JDK 6 to OpenJDK 7. Some background is copied below, and then all supporting documents are on the OSG TWiki.

You may wonder about timelines and effort for the project. We are working on that, but there is much that we do not know yet. Nonetheless, this project is a top priority. The goal is to have a clearer picture of the effort required by the All Hands Meeting. So far, we have made solid progress on rebuilding Java components and are about to embark on the first significant round of testing.

BACKGROUND: Many packages in the OSG Software stack are based on Java. To date in OSG 3.x, we have distributed the Oracle JDK 6 implementation of Java, and built and distributed Java packages using it. At the end of February, 2013, Oracle will discontinue public support of the Java 6 series, including any further security or bug fixes. Due to the frequent discovery of security flaws in Java, we must migrate away from Oracle JDK 6 to a supported Java implementation. We intend to update OSG Software 3.1.x with new Java packages, based on a new implementation, as quickly as possible to reduce our exposure to security risks in Java. The page that is linked below describes our plan to do so at a high level and is intended for site administrators and other stakeholders who are interested in the change.

For more information, please see:

https://www.opensciencegrid.org/bin/view/Documentation/Release3/Java6Migration_draft

We welcome feedback on this plan at goc@opensciencegrid.org or osg-software@opensciencegrid.org