I see the builds are failing due to Javadoc. I will correct this. Also, it seems like the eca issue is related to the multiple email addresses I have on my GitHub account. I have accepted the ECA but the automated test seems to be confused. I will see what can be done.

avoid using tabs and stick with current formatting

Should I go back and change it back to what it was. Sorry, the formatting style seemed very old-school to me, so I thought I was making things better but I understand the value of consistency. I am happy to change it back.

reformatting comments as part of the change does not make reviewer's life easier

Understood.

copyright year should be updated

Will do.

change should be noted in the spec document, at least in the changelog

Will do.

should marking File variants as deprecated be considered or do you propose to just keep them as they are for now?

This is a tough call. Personally, I would deprecate them however the JDK maintainers have seen fit not to deprecate File even though it has been superseded. I decided to follow the JDK lead and since it is not deprecated in the JDK, to leave it undeprecated in this API. As a compromise, I put a note in the Javadoc indicating that the Path version should be preferred.

avoid using tabs and stick with current formatting

Should I go back and change it back to what it was. Sorry, the formatting style seemed very old-school to me, so I thought I was making things better but I understand the value of consistency. I am happy to change it back.

yes, please - avoid tabs for new stuff. The codebase should be updated in one go followed by the inclusion of the change in .git-blame-ignore-revs

wrt deprecation - OK, let's keep it as it is and do nothing in that area for now

wrt failing ECA check - last two commits were probably done through different username (...www...) which has not signed the ECA; the first one seems to be fine (probably)... can you try to amend them?