David, With the greatest respect to you, and I have a lot of sympathy with your ideas of GUI's using browser / JS technology, your comments on Java are bordering on FUD. I also don't understand the general anti-Java diatribe - it's a library, and it has its uses - why treat it as somehow different to any other library. It's still the best performing VM out there. Once JavaScript allows me to write a single JIT'ed executable that runs cross-platform; links to JACK on Linux, Windows and Mac; allows sub-5ms latency; and lets me drop live-coded fragments into the audio graph - then it gets interesting, but until then JS is still playing catchup! :-)
On 21 November 2011 01:15, David Robillard <[email protected]> wrote: > * Most Windows computers do not have Java. Source??? Last stats I saw showed Java installs not far behind Flash. And if you take the "link your own VM" option (which is similar to the suggestion re. webkit) it's irrelevant anyway. > * Java is officially deprecated on Mac OS X. hmm .. Java on Mac is actually looking rosier than it has in a long time, now that development is taking place officially as part of OpenJDK. > * Java will never, ever be available by default on any Microsoft > platform That depends - lots of manufacturers install it by default. > * Java is not included in the default installation of the overwhelming > majority of free software operating systems Good! Too many distros install far too much by default. It's a library, it's a dependency, and it's there if it's needed. > * Java requires software installation of some variety (unless you're > seriously going to suggest using Java applets in 2011 with a straight > face...) Applets? God, no! :-) I've no problem with installation though. As I said before, I don't necessarily see web-apps as the ultimate way forward - I personally think the app-store model will hold out because a) app-stores allow certain companies to keep their walled gardens, and b) writing for the browser is always going to be writing to the lowest common denominator. > * Java recently has acquired a lot of legal questions making it not > exactly the wisest investment for new technology. Nothing that affects OpenJDK though. > * There are many cutting edge modern browser implementations, and > activity here is moving at an astonishing pace. Java is a dinosaur. > A dinosaur that the others are still trying to catch up with, mind you! > Regardless, if I may take the liberty of speaking for this community, > making people use Java for something is a sure-fire way of ensuring they > don't use it. And I'll take the liberty of saying I think that's a daft attitude to have! :-) If the application performs a function I need, then I'll consider using it, regardless of what technology underlies it. Best wishes, Neil -- Neil C Smith Artist : Technologist : Adviser http://neilcsmith.net _______________________________________________ Linux-audio-dev mailing list [email protected] http://lists.linuxaudio.org/listinfo/linux-audio-dev
