On Oct 21, 3:36 am, robross <[email protected]> wrote: > On Oct 21, 12:13 am, Jan Goyvaerts™ <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I won't be surprised if Oracle steps in to produce a JVM for all platforms. > > That's more or less what Apple is forcing them to do ? > > I do hope you are right. But I don't see what the financial advantage > is for Oracle to pay for a new JDK port. How do they make more money > by having a JDK on Apple machines? What is the mysterious Step #2 in > this story? > > 1. Oracle funds a Mac OS port > 2. ?? > 3. Profit
But from Apple's point of view, the exact same logic holds: 1. License Java, develop OS X port 2. ?? 3. Profit You're right to question whether it's worth Oracle's time and money to do an OS X version… but clearly Apple's also asking itself the same question. I've long thought that Java on the Mac was financially justified solely by the developer community -- that there are so many Java developers willing to buy Macs that they alone justified Apple putting money into Java. I came to this hypothesis by asking the question "who would stop buying Macs if they didn't come with Java", and the *only* answer was "Java developers". But if so, then what changed yesterday? * My hypothesis could be total crap. But if so, then what has justified Apple supporting Java on the Mac for over a decade? There hasn't been any new meaningful end-user Java software for years, and there aren't THAT many people playing Runescape and Puzzle Pirates. * The population of Java developers could be declining, though I do not believe this is the case * Apple may believe that the politicized element of the Java community will (or already has) pick up their toys and march home to Linux or Windows, in which case there are fewer Java developers as potential Mac customers, and less financial incentive to pursue them. * Apple may believe that Java developers will continue to buy Macs whether or not Apple develops its own JVM. 'Cause, you know, they're so pretty and all. Or because Apple believes someone (Oracle, the open source community, the Java Fairy) will provide an OS X JVM, meaning it doesn't have to be Apple's problem anymore. * Apple may believe that Java 7's timeline is so far out, likely to be delayed further, and the Java community is so conservative about adopting new versions, that Java SE 6 will be perfectly adequate in its current form indefinitely. So again, developers might be willing to stick with the Mac regardless of whether Apple is actively developing its own JVM. To me, the crucial tension has always been the fact that Java is overwhelmingly a server-side language, and that the desktop stuff really is little used, other than for IDEs. Yet Apple is all about the desktop (or what I call "user facing" and "user local" stuff), so their Java is only relevant to Java developers, and only then at development-time. --Chris -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en.
