[kepler-dev] [Bug 4702] KAR to module conversion utility

[bugzilla-daemon at ecoinformatics.org]

http://bugzilla.ecoinformatics.org/show_bug.cgi?id=4702

--- Comment #6 from David Welker <welker4kepler at gmail.com> 2010-02-11 11:17:13 PST ---
Aaron,

I don't believe that this is the proper forum for you to air your opinions
about the desirability of options that you concede are not feasible.

But, since you have decided to, I will just say your just plain WRONG.

There does not and cannot exist a module system where you can just unthinkingly
load any module regardless of what it does. A separate class loader does not
ensure semantic compatibility between modules nor does it protect against
unstable modules. On the downside, it is less powerful since it does not give
the option for overrides. What is the advantage exactly?

What CAN be done in both cases is this. You can design certain core components
which provide a framework and THEN assert that non-core components (call them
actors) will work, provided that they are stable and do not infringe upon any
of the core functionality of the framework. That is, you can think of Kepler as
a server, and then adding functionality within certain boundaries.

The thing is, as of now, we haven't defined those boundaries. And until we do,
we have to assume that changes to the mix of modules could be problematic.

By the way, I have installed plug-ins in eclipse that have caused eclipse to
crash, and that uses your precious OSGi. In fact, I have gotten eclipse into
such bizarre states that the easiest solution was simply to re-install eclipse.
So, instead of going off with useless comments, maybe you should recognize that
these are non-trivial problems. The bottom-line is this. If you want to add
modules as opposed to switching between tested suites, you are going to have
define standards that modules that are meant to be added must have in order to
be considered safe. As is demonstrated by my experiences where plug-ins have
crashed eclipse, this is true for OSGi as well. A separate class loader for
every module does not somehow make modules magically compatible with each
other. And it certainly does not ensure that you can hot-load a module.

Any other questions? Oh wait, that wasn't a question, was it? It should have
been.

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