We want to compile from sources always, because:

1) The user might want to tweak the source code before compiling
2) The user might want to apply a third-party patch
3) The binary packages supplied by the authors do not always contain
   the javadoc documentation
4) We like source code :)

There is also a point to be made about consistency: In general, the user
should be able to assume that when using an ebuild, the system will
automatically obtain the source code for him. We are (slowly) working on
binary packages for all ebuilds, so when users are 100% certain they do
not want to spend time compiling from the sources, they can install the
binary packages instead. In this case, it would be a bit peculiar if
binary-only was available in the source-only tree, too, and no sources
were available.

So in short: We try hard (but not hard enough, as evidenced by the
tomcat-4.0.1 ebuild) to compile all Java packages from sources. Any
package that does not, should be considered faulty, and a bug report
should be filed.


Kind regards,

Karl T