> Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 19:13:49 +0000
> From: Justin Couch <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: Re: [JAVA3D] Java 3D Web Pages
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> Rich Harris wrote:
> >
> > I was looking at the Future Product Information and it was completely silent
> > about any signed installer hosted by java.sun. What it the status of this?
>
> From my last lot of communications with the Sun developers, you won't
> see anything until either Java 3D 1.3 or JDK 1.4. The reason for this is
> that the installer system is pretty much useless at the moment. It does
> not handle variations of system architecture.
>
> For example, I could set up an installer for Solaris or Linux, but
> either of these run on multiple CPU types. There is no capability in the
> system to tell it I want Linux/Alpha or Solaris/x86.
I think you may be misinformed about this. It's true that the JPI
auto-install system currently only supports differences in os.name when
deciding which installer to download. So Solaris/x86 and Solaris/SPARC
will both get the same installer "SunOS." But I don't see this as a
huge problem for us since we're only supporting Windows/x86 and
Solaris/SPARC. It's possible to add JavaScript code to your HTML
to weed out unacceptable platform combinations before attempting to
download the installer, if this is a huge issue for you.
I've sent email to the JPI team to see when they're going to add
"os.arch" and "os.version" to their naming scheme.
> Another annoying
> part (at least from my persective) is that the ability to write pure
> Java installers is pretty much screwed at the moment. All the
> classloaders they are using are stuffed and prevent you accessing
> _anything_ even the JAR file you downloaded the installer from!
I don't know what you mean here. "Stuffed?"
We're talking to the WebStart group about the possibility of using
their technology as an alternative way of installing Java 3D for
Web based apps, and it looks promising. Unfortunately,
they are having the same legal problems as the JPI auto-install
feature. Both problems will be solved at once, so when we
announce the solution, you will have a choice of two different
ways to distribute your Java 3D apps. No dates have yet been
announced.
>
> SO, in summary, the J3D guys would love to put an installer out there,
> but right at the moment it is simply not worth their time as the system
> is so broken as to be almost unusable.
We'd love to put an installer out there, but we are having "legal
problems and export control issues," as Rob said.
-Paul
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