Should Automake still support Java?

[Mathieu Lirzin]

Hello,

   Currently Automake supports two ways of compiling Java code.  One is
with the 'javac' compiler which is deprecated on the Automake side, and
the other (the recommanded one) which uses GCJ.  Relying on GCJ feels
outdated since GCJ has been removed from GCC since version 7 and is not
distributed on recent Debian/Fedora/Ubuntu distributions anymore.

   As a consequence, I am considering removing Java support.  Before
doing that, I would like to consult others, particularly people who may
still rely on those features.  My questions are the followings:

- Should we remove GCJ support?
- Should we remove javac support?
- Should we undeprecate javac support?
- When should it be done (1.16/1.17/...) ?

   If some of you have still access to GCJ, I would be grateful if they
could help with bug#24895 [1] which can't be adressed otherwise.

Thanks.

[1] https://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=24895

-- 
Mathieu Lirzin
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