There is a vast array of great free software projects written in Java. All sorts of large systems that we all rely on every day are built upon the Apache Foundation libraries. Large companies like Google and IBM put out standard libraries that so many other projects use. Unfortunately, the standard practice for distributing Java code makes it a lot of work to integrate them into Debian.

The Debian Java Team's work is generally under-appreciated, so we are getting the word out here. The Java Team has to consistently fight the Java standard practice of bundling all deps into a single JAR. This means there is no shared security updates, each dev has to update every dependency themselves in that model. That works great for large companies with staff devoted to doing that.

For the majority of Debian use cases, that works poorly. Debian delivers on the promise that people can just apt install foo and have it work, and receive security updates. The user does not even need to know what language the program is written in, it just works.

The Java developer community need to embrace the value of these use cases, and help Debian by making it easier to package Java projects in the standard distro method, with shared dependencies that are independently updated.

Python and Ruby provide great examples of more flexible standard practice for shipping software. Both have methods of describing the dependencies needed, and then automatically fetching them. They are designed in a way that is quite easy to hook into the native build system and make Debian packages. That is sadly not the case with Gradle and Maven, the most popular build systems for Java. For those, the Java Team usually has to extensively patch the build system to make it work for the Debian package.

How you can help

There are many things that upstream projects can do to make it a lot easier to include them in Debian and other distros.

• Include a build target in your build system that builds using only libraries in Debian.
• Provide a minimal build target which uses as few build tricks as possible, like Gradle plugins or custom hacks.
• Run Continuous Integration (CI) builds against Debian/testing, its so easy these days with GitLab CI, Travis CI, etc.
• Help us package Java, and learn first hand!

For more information, you can see @apo's talk at FOSDEM. Questions are always welcome on debian-java@lists.debian.org and #debian-java.

We're excited to announce that Debian has selected seven interns to work with us during the next months: two people for Outreachy, and five for the Google Summer of Code.

Here is the list of projects and the interns who will work on them:

Android SDK Tools in Debian

• Saif Abdul Cassim
• Katerina

Package Loomio for Debian

• utkarsh2102

Debian Cloud Image Finder

• Arthur Diniz

Debian Patch Porting System

• Jaskaran Singh

Continuous Integration

• Saira Hussain
• Candy Tsai

Congratulations and welcome to all the interns!

The Google Summer of Code and Outreachy programs are possible in Debian thanks to the efforts of Debian developers and contributors that dedicate part of their free time to mentor interns and outreach tasks.

Join us and help extend Debian! You can follow the interns weekly reports on the debian-outreach mailing-list, chat with us on our IRC channel or on each project's team mailing lists.

You have heard about Debian Edu or Skolelinux, but do you know exactly what we are doing?

Join us on the #debian-meeting channel on the OFTC IRC network on 03 June 2019 at 12:00 UTC for an introduction to Debian Edu, a Debian pure blend created to fit the requirements of schools and similar institutions.

You will meet Holger Levsen, contributing to Debian Edu since 2005 and member of development team. Ask him anything you ever wanted to know about Debian Edu!

Your IRC nick needs to be registered in order to join the channel. Refer to the Register your account section on the oftc website for more information on how to register your nick.

You can always refer to the debian-meeting wiki page for the latest information and up to date schedule.

We are very pleased to announce that Lenovo has committed to supporting DebConf19 as a Platinum sponsor.

"Lenovo is proud to sponsor the 20th Annual Debian Conference." said Egbert Gracias, Senior Software Development Manager at Lenovo. "We’re excited to see, up close, the great work being done in the community and to meet the developers and volunteers that keep the Debian Project moving forward!”

Lenovo is a global technology leader manufacturing a wide portfolio of connected products, including smartphones, tablets, PCs and workstations as well as AR/VR devices, smart home/office solutions and data center solutions.

With this commitment as Platinum Sponsor, Lenovo is contributing to make possible our annual conference, and directly supporting the progress of Debian and Free Software, helping to strengthen the community that continues to collaborate on Debian projects throughout the rest of the year.

Thank you very much Lenovo, for your support of DebConf19!

Become a sponsor too!

DebConf19 is still accepting sponsors. Interested companies and organizations may contact the DebConf team through sponsors@debconf.org, and visit the DebConf19 website at https://debconf19.debconf.org.

The following contributors got their Debian Developer accounts in the last two months:

• Jean-Baptiste Favre (jbfavre)
• Andrius Merkys (merkys)

The following contributors were added as Debian Maintainers in the last two months:

• Christian Ehrhardt
• Aniol Marti
• Utkarsh Gupta
• Nicolas Schier
• Stewart Ferguson
• Hilmar Preusse

Congratulations!