We did it.
Apache Log4j 2.0 is finally available as a GA release.
The team worked for more than four years on this project. It all started when Ralph Goers came up with a raw implementation idea that should fix the problems of log4j 1 and logback.
To be honest, at first I thought: “Wow, Ralph will need to work a lot on this… it’s unlikely that we will be able to manage it.” But he did. He kept Log4j 2.0 growing from minute one, and soon it began to attract new committers.
Meanwhile, we have quite a few people around. All of them are highly skilled people, who sometimes bring up ideas like the one with the (LMAX Disruptor)[/log4j-2-performance-close-to-insane-20072013.html]. That’s actually the difference from all other logging-projects out there: we have quite a big and active team. And it seems, we work when needed (all days, and all times)[https://github.com/apache/logging-log4j2/graphs/punch-card].
I think it’s important to continue innovation, even when it is “just” a logging lib. When I gave talks about Log4j 2, people asked me why we would do it. I usually said, “Because we need it, because we want it, because we want to have something better than the existing solutions.” But there is one more thing: because it’s freaking funny to co-work with the rest of the team.
And now, after four years (and two years after the first alpha), we actually made a GA release. It’s probably not perfect; we have already added something on the “to-do” list. But it’s there. We believe it will serve you well.
Enjoy!