[NTLUG:Discuss] I hate IcedTea

[Stephen Davidson]

Hi Leroy.
(Resend from correct address)

On 06/08/2013 03:30 PM, Leroy Tennison wrote:
[snip]
> I'm not going to dispute the evils of the profit-minded-world (regardless of who they are) and it's
a good point to not assume anything is going to work regardless.  I
noted yesterday yet another potential vulnerability in the latest Oracle
java release.  I'll keep IcedTea in mind if java wipes out but, for now,
I'm somewhat like your comment "nobody really cares what you are running
underneath the covers" - as long as it works.  The company I work for
uses a product which allows remote control of office PCs for
work-at-home.  I was very pleased to see that, via java, a Linux PC
could use the official corporate solution because, like too much of the
business world, there's a one track (= M$) mind.  Yes, there's a
Windows-based VPN solution and, yes, I gagged myself and bought a copy
of Windows 7 for my wife.  However, I really prefer to not contort my
world (have to use Windows) just to get some work done.
>
Evils of profit-minded vs. the "Who cares if we change the API" of
opensource?  (The latter is the argument I am often given against using
OpenSource).  Major argument here, and I think I won't go any further
than acknowledge that it exists.  And agree with the rest of your comments.

> Now, I'll show my industry ignorance, sad to hear the Android has its issues, I really don't want
to get gouged by the other choice. Second, how did HP get stabbed in the
back (wasn't aware)?
Oracle dropped there Database from their main Server CPU.  HP sued for
breach of contract and "won".
>
> Oh, and BTW, hating IcedTea doesn't mean I love java, to me it's a
tool and, as long as it works (and I mean really works - doesn't work
but expose me unduly to other evils) I'm OK with it.  So far (the BIG
disclaimer) java revisions haven't hurt me.
>
> Finally, questions:
>
> What other choices are there other than java and IcedTea?
Open JDK and Apache's Harmony are two that come to mind off the top of
my head.  IBM & Azul are two proprietary solutions, not counting the
embedded chip ones.
> And the really important one: Does anyone know of a plugin/etc. which will automatically turn java
off when you exit the browser. My only known need for java is this
company application but I find myself forgetting to turn java off after
use, even with QuickJava.
Ummm, when did THAT stop working????  Java Applets (which are what is
supposed to be launched when starting Java from a browser) were supposed
to (and are specified to) shutdown when the browser leaves the webpage,
and especially when the Browser shuts down.  You should be able to open
a bug on this against your JVM supplier (if one is not already present).

Regards,
Steve