Reviews : Open Source Java Application Management: BlueGlue and MyJavaPack :

Open Source Java Application Management: BlueGlue and MyJavaPack

by Drew Falkman

I don't think I'm alone in having a love-hate relationship with open source. The whole concept makes so much sense: community development gives us all better tools. But the flip side is that documentation is scarce, managing patches and updates a nightmare at best, and technical support? HA! Then, you install a bunch of different tools with overlapping classes and conflicting ports and...oy. Three days later and you haven't even started development yet. But as we move into a new world where open source tools proliferate, a number of different companies are looking for ways to simplify this process. A new genre of tools is emerging: open source infrastructure management. Imagine, if you will, having an integrated installation tool (think adding/removing Windows components through the control panel). Two tools are now available to help with this task: OpenLogic BlueGlue and and Open-Centric Solutions' MyJavaPack Project.

I wanted to take a look at these two options and see if either could help manage the nightmare of open source stacks that can—and often does—occur in projects using these J2EE tools.

Open-Centric Solutions' MyJavaPack Project

Using MyJavaPack

Figure 1. IzPack Installation

MyJavaPack is efficient, helpful and coordinated, but is really only one step away from doing what you would do as a matter of course anyway. The downside is that you're limited to the versions of the applications that are available. Of course, you could create your own Ant build and do it yourself, but that would really defeat the purpose, now wouldn't it?

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