Hi Peter, hi Ed,
Thanks Peter for anticipating this upcoming issue!
I think relying on a Java-based implementation of pack200
is a good idea.
Indeed, when pack200 is not shipped with the JRE by
default, p2 wouldn't be able to use it anymore if there is no
alternative. I think p2 has the necessary smartness (maybe
some switches) to just ignore pack200 artifacts if we don't
have a better solution by then.
In the meantime, I think the best strategy for p2 is just
to wait until the removal of pack200 happens, and when it
happens, switch to whichever best pack200 implementation
(could be yours) or simply drop pack200 if it happens that the
overall state of pack200 in the Java community reached a point
where we can assume it's dead.
I do not have the feeling that p2 project and its
contributors can be strong drivers about the future of pack200
here because everyone is busy with many things, and both p2
and the Eclipse world could survive very well without pack200
(updates would "just" be a bit slower). I guess pack200 is not
critical enough to p2.
But that's an interesting topic to discuss with the
community at large. I'll make it a topic for the Architecture
Council to discuss. Maybe there will be more interest than I
expect in actively keeping support of pack200.
Cheers,