"... Too bad it's implemented in Java. If this was in C it would make the GNU PDF project redundant ..."
My sentiments (had a similiar post before I scrubbed it). What is it about the language that leaves a sour taste for developers?
Is it the inability to integrate into gnu software as
easily as C that makes it just another attempt
to push their own language?
Is the advantage of not dealing with pointers worth the cost of dealing with JVM? Maybe it's a developer thing? I imagine 9/10 users wouldn't bat an eyelid if told it was developed in "foo" language.
Well, if it's written in C, it can be used pretty much anywhere and linked to from pretty much anything. Yes, the code needs to be written portably, but that's a solved problem.
In addition to that, the FSF has some weird religious adherence to C that goes beyond linkability. e.g. they're opposed to libraries being written in highly portable C++ which export their bindings in pure C, even if you only used features supported by Cfront in 1990.
