I knew I should have paid more attention to the work on the new backend. This is (was) the project I should have tried ot learn on, seeing as I already know the problem space somewhat.
Well, I guess it's never too late to start ...
[edit] So, what do I need to install to start playing? Is there a debian package that will get everything I need, or am I better off getting it direct from Sun? And are there tools that would help get up the learning curve, or am I better learning it from a text editor from the start?