<s>
GNU	B-Language
Classpath	I-Language
is	O
a	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
implementation	O
of	O
the	O
standard	O
class	B-Library
library	I-Library
for	O
the	O
Java	B-Language
programming	I-Language
language	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
classes	O
from	O
J2SE	B-Language
1.4	O
and	O
5.0	O
are	O
implemented	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Classpath	O
can	O
thus	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
run	O
Java-based	O
applications	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
GNU	B-Language
Classpath	I-Language
is	O
a	O
part	O
of	O
the	B-Application
GNU	I-Application
Project	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
originally	O
developed	O
in	O
parallel	O
with	O
libgcj	B-Language
due	O
to	O
license	B-License
incompatibilities	O
,	O
but	O
later	O
the	O
two	O
projects	O
merged	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GNU	B-Language
Classpath	I-Language
was	O
deemed	O
a	O
high	O
priority	O
project	O
by	O
the	B-Operating_System
Free	I-Operating_System
Software	I-Operating_System
Foundation	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
the	O
Classpath	O
project	O
began	O
,	O
the	O
license	B-License
for	O
the	O
official	O
Java	B-Device
implementation	O
from	O
Sun	O
Microsystems	O
did	O
not	O
allow	O
distribution	O
of	O
any	O
alterations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
the	O
inception	O
of	O
the	O
Classpath	O
project	O
,	O
the	O
OpenJDK	B-Language
was	O
released	O
under	O
the	O
GPL	B-License
and	O
now	O
serves	O
as	O
the	O
official	O
reference	O
implementation	O
for	O
the	O
Java	B-Device
platform	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
GNU	B-Language
Classpath	I-Language
is	O
licensed	O
under	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
General	I-License
Public	I-License
License	I-License
with	O
a	O
linking	B-Application
exception	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
a	O
free	B-License
software	I-License
license	I-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
code	O
is	O
formally	O
owned	O
by	O
the	B-Operating_System
Free	I-Operating_System
Software	I-Operating_System
Foundation	I-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
this	O
owner	O
is	O
bound	O
by	O
its	O
own	O
contractual	O
obligations	O
to	O
the	O
developers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GNU	B-Language
Classpath	I-Language
is	O
used	O
by	O
many	O
free	B-Language
Java	I-Language
runtimes	I-Language
(	O
like	O
Kaffe	B-Language
,	O
SableVM	B-Language
,	O
JamVM	B-Language
,	O
Jikes	B-Language
RVM	I-Language
,	O
and	O
VMKit	O
)	O
because	O
every	O
full-featured	O
Java	B-Device
virtual	O
machine	O
must	O
provide	O
an	O
implementation	O
of	O
the	O
standard	O
class	O
libraries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
GNU	B-Language
Compiler	I-Language
for	I-Language
Java	I-Language
,	O
which	O
is	O
capable	O
of	O
compiling	O
Java	B-Language
code	I-Language
into	O
native	O
standalone	O
executables	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GCJAppletViewer	O
for	O
launching	O
Java	B-Application
applets	I-Application
from	O
command	O
line	O
if	O
they	O
are	O
not	O
supported	O
by	O
the	O
browser	O
in	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
JNode	O
,	O
an	O
operating	O
system	O
for	O
running	O
Java	B-Device
applications	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
system	O
is	O
written	O
in	O
Java	B-Device
and	O
assembler	O
only	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Specialised	O
virtual	O
machines	O
such	O
as	O
for	O
integration	O
with	O
the	O
Oberon	B-Language
programming	I-Language
language	I-Language
,	O
and	O
JamaicaVM	B-Language
for	O
embedded	O
systems	O
with	O
real-time	O
guarantees	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Virtual	O
machines	O
for	O
distributed	O
computing	O
with	O
clusters	O
,	O
having	O
up	O
to	O
128	O
processors	O
on	O
Myrinet	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
IcedTea	B-Language
project	O
used	O
GNU	B-Language
Classpath	I-Language
as	O
a	O
replacement	O
for	O
proprietary	O
elements	O
of	O
OpenJDK	B-Language
,	O
prior	O
to	O
their	O
replacement	O
upstream	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GNU	B-Language
Classpath	I-Language
development	O
started	O
in	O
1998	O
with	O
five	O
developers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
the	O
history	O
,	O
it	O
merged	O
several	O
times	O
with	O
other	O
projects	O
having	O
similar	O
goals	O
(	O
Kaffe	B-Language
,	O
libgcj	B-Language
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
past	O
,	O
GNU	B-Language
Classpath	I-Language
supplied	O
its	O
own	O
virtual	O
machine	O
(	O
Japhar	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
Classpath	O
was	O
becoming	O
a	O
base	O
library	B-Library
,	O
shared	O
with	O
a	O
lot	O
of	O
different	O
projects	O
,	O
this	O
virtual	O
machine	O
received	O
less	O
and	O
less	O
attention	O
and	O
is	O
now	O
no	O
longer	O
supported	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
implementing	O
the	O
majority	O
of	O
the	O
official	O
Java	B-Device
1.4	O
API	O
,	O
the	O
work	O
in	O
the	O
project	O
became	O
more	O
bug	O
oriented	O
rather	O
than	O
API	O
coverage	O
oriented	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
name	O
GNU	B-Language
Classpath	I-Language
was	O
originally	O
suggested	O
by	O
Bradley	O
M	O
.	O
Kuhn	O
to	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
developers	O
,	O
Paul	O
Fisher	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
there	O
was	O
great	B-Language
concern	I-Language
in	I-Language
the	I-Language
Free	I-Language
Java	I-Language
implementations	I-Language
community	I-Language
about	O
enforcement	O
of	O
Sun	O
's	O
trademark	O
on	O
Java	B-Device
against	O
free	O
implementations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kuhn	O
suggested	O
the	O
name	O
$CLASSPATH	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
the	O
environment	O
variable	O
used	O
by	O
most	O
Java	B-Device
systems	O
to	O
indicate	O
where	O
the	O
Java	B-Device
libraries	O
reside	O
on	O
the	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
$CLASSPATH	O
often	O
expanded	O
to	O
a	O
path	B-Application
name	I-Application
that	O
included	O
the	O
word	O
java	B-Device
(	O
such	O
as	O
/usr/lib/java	O
)	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
a	O
way	O
to	O
evoke	O
the	O
name	O
Java	B-Device
without	O
actually	O
saying	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
maintainer	O
also	O
grants	O
the	O
CVS	B-Application
access	O
permissions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GNU	B-Language
Classpath	I-Language
has	O
no	O
formal	O
hierarchy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
GNU	B-Language
Classpath	I-Language
library	B-Library
code	B-Application
coverage	I-Application
progress	O
can	O
be	O
tracked	O
against	O
OpenJDK6	O
and	O
OpenJDK7	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GNU	B-Language
Classpath	I-Language
contains	O
classes	O
from	O
the	O
official	O
Java	B-Device
API	O
namespace	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
methods	O
of	O
these	O
classes	O
contain	O
the	O
keyword	O
native	O
,	O
indicating	O
the	O
necessity	O
of	O
the	O
supporting	O
native	B-Library
library	I-Library
.	O
</s>
<s>
Such	O
libraries	O
are	O
provided	O
by	O
the	O
authors	O
of	O
a	O
Java	B-Device
virtual	O
machine	O
,	O
hence	O
GNU	B-Language
Classpath	I-Language
can	O
be	O
connected	O
to	O
nearly	O
any	O
Java	B-Device
virtual	O
machine	O
if	O
the	O
sources	O
of	O
such	O
virtual	O
machine	O
are	O
available	O
and	O
can	O
be	O
modified	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Before	O
version	O
0.95	O
,	O
each	O
GNU	B-Language
Classpath	I-Language
release	O
consisted	O
of	O
two	O
separate	O
release	O
tarballs	O
;	O
one	O
that	O
represented	O
the	O
state	O
of	O
the	O
main	O
development	B-General_Concept
branch	I-General_Concept
and	O
another	O
that	O
contained	O
the	O
contents	O
of	O
a	O
more	O
experimental	O
branch	O
,	O
supporting	O
the	O
additions	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
generics	O
,	O
enumerations	O
and	O
annotations	O
,	O
present	O
in	O
Java	B-Device
1.5	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
version	O
0.95	O
,	O
Java	B-Device
1.5	O
additions	O
like	O
generics	O
have	O
been	O
fully	O
integrated	O
into	O
the	O
main	B-General_Concept
branch	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
branch	O
can	O
be	O
built	O
by	O
using	O
the	O
Eclipse	B-Application
compiler	B-Language
,	O
ecj	O
,	O
to	O
compile	O
Java	B-Device
1.5	O
source	O
code	O
to	O
bytecode	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
0.95	O
onwards	O
,	O
GNU	B-Language
Classpath	I-Language
also	O
supports	O
compiling	O
and	O
running	O
the	O
newly	O
GPLed	O
open-source	O
javac	B-General_Concept
compiler	B-Language
using	O
GNU	B-Language
Classpath	I-Language
and	O
also	O
allows	O
the	O
GNU	B-Language
Classpath	I-Language
class	B-Library
library	I-Library
,	O
tools	O
and	O
examples	O
to	O
be	O
compiled	O
with	O
javac	B-General_Concept
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GNU	B-Language
Classpath	I-Language
does	O
not	O
accept	O
any	O
code	O
that	O
has	O
a	O
non-free	O
license	B-License
,	O
or	O
that	O
was	O
automatically	O
generated	O
from	O
code	O
with	O
a	O
non-free	O
license	B-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
standard	O
Java	B-Device
API	O
contains	O
numerous	O
classes	O
from	O
the	O
omg.org	O
domain	O
that	O
are	O
normally	O
generated	O
from	O
the	O
IDL	B-General_Concept
files	O
,	O
released	O
by	O
the	O
Object	B-Architecture
Management	I-Architecture
Group	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
"	O
use	O
,	O
but	O
no	O
modify	O
"	O
license	B-License
of	O
these	O
files	O
counts	O
as	O
non-free	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
this	O
reason	O
,	O
the	O
mentioned	O
classes	O
in	O
the	O
GNU	B-Language
Classpath	I-Language
project	O
were	O
written	O
from	O
scratch	O
,	O
using	O
only	O
the	O
official	O
printed	O
OMG	O
specifications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hence	O
this	O
part	O
of	O
GNU	B-Language
Classpath	I-Language
is	O
as	O
free	O
as	O
any	O
other	O
code	O
in	O
the	O
project	O
.	O
</s>
