[jboss-dev] transactions change in AS 5.0

[Dimitris Andreadis]

I think before making a decision we need to understand the technical differences of jta/jts 
and the configuration implications. I suppose I can go and RTFM, however do you see issues 
in having nodes in a cluster running jts? Do you need to have somekind of coordinator node 
or the nodes auto-arrange themselves?

Jonathan Halliday wrote:
> 
> Hello all
> 
> Arguably one for the AS list, but in light of potential impact on other 
> projects I think it needs wider discussion, so hello dev list...
> 
> I'm pleased to say that we will shortly be announcing the change of 
> licence terms for the JTS (distributed, interoperable transactions 
> between e.g. EJB containers) and XTS (transactions for Web Services) 
> parts of JBossTS from GPL/Dual to LGPL.
> 
> The current JBossAS release bundles our JTA ('local only' transactions), 
> which is already LGPL.  The JTS and XTS options are available to the 
> community as additional downloads that can be integrated into AS 4.x  
> The EAP 4.x releases include support for JTA only.  We have promised EAP 
> 5.x will include JTS also, and probably at least some parts of XTS.
> 
> Now that it's legally feasible to do so, does the AS dev community wish 
> to include either JTS or XTS with the AS 5.x releases, in order to 
> provide users with these increased capabilities?
> 
> I see the advantages as: The AS will have more functionality out of the 
> box and can be pulled into the EAP with fewer changes. For both cases it 
> would otherwise be necessary to retrofit the additional transactions 
> pieces and retest the server.
> 
> I see the disadvantages as: Changing something as core as the 
> transactions engine between CR and GA may raise issues that further 
> delay the release. It adds additional complexity and footprint for 
> something not all users need.
> 
> Hybrid solutions are available, such as sticking with the JTA for the 
> 'default' config and putting the JTS into the 'all' config. These 
> further muddy the waters and complicate the testing, although I rather 
> like it from a point of view of offering the most appropriate technical 
> solution for users with different needs.
> 
> There may be a degree of tension here between the AS (community) and EAP 
> (product).  Putting the JTS into the AS reduces the productisation work 
> at the cost of more engineering effort in the AS for example.
> 
> I'm wearing my community developer hat today: JBossAS and JBossTS are 
> open source projects, it's up to the core developers to discuss the 
> engineering tradeoffs and make the call on this.  That may of course be 
> unduly idealist: commercial realities dictate that EAP product 
> management have at least some influence on the final decision :-)
> 
> Does anyone have strong opinions one way or the other on this?
> 
> Regards
> 
> Jonathan Halliday
> JBossTS dev team lead.
>