> Could someone explain the differences between a reference implementation and
> a production.
It's a distinction in code quality, similar to the difference between
beta software and a full release. A reference implementation is an
implementation which is supposed to indicate how a paper standard
> 1) Is the source code necessary for any reliable port
>of the JDK to Linux?
Definitely. The JDK consists of a few components: the Java virtual machine
itself, the java.* class hierarchy, the native code which supports the
class library, the Java source for javac and so on. Some of this cod
