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Subject: Re: reason was: Java support missing (or malfunctioning?)

Author: Mridul Muralidharan

Date: 04:57:44 03/22/04

Go up one level in this thread


On March 21, 2004 at 20:19:38, Eugene Nalimov wrote:

>On March 21, 2004 at 19:06:06, Christophe Theron wrote:
>
>>On March 21, 2004 at 15:49:45, Eugene Nalimov wrote:
>>
>>>On March 20, 2004 at 12:19:23, Christophe Theron wrote:
>>>
>>>>On March 20, 2004 at 04:36:31, Mike S. wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>On March 20, 2004 at 01:53:31, Kurt Utzinger wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>On March 20, 2004 at 01:38:38, Kurt Utzinger wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>(...)
>>>>>
>>>>>>>     "The server tried to set an illegal cookie. The combination of
>>>>>>>     the server's hostname and the domain attribute for this cookie is not
>>>>>>>     acceptable, and the cookie has therefore been rejected. You might want to
>>>>>>>     ask the site's Webmaster to set legal cookies."
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>     No idea what's wrong with this site as I have the browser set to
>>>>>>>     "cookies enabled".
>>>>>
>>>>>Nothing, except that it has a code monster for the navigation where a few simple
>>>>>links would be sufficient. That menu code requires a *Java* runtime software on
>>>>>the visitor's computer (not just javascript obviously). The error message above
>>>>>must come from wrong diagnosis, or isn't related to the access problem itself. I
>>>>>could always access these pages and I have cookies *disabled* in MSIE.
>>>>>
>>>>>The Java runtime software is not included in WinXP anymore (AFAIK since SP1a),
>>>>>which means that people with newer Windows XP installations won't be able to use
>>>>>that menu when they don't have installed a Java support themselves additionally
>>>>>(like I did as mentioned in the other posting).
>>>>>
>>>>>(I discoverd this Java issue recently when using XP for the first time, and i.e.
>>>>>the MyChessViewer which requires the same software, didn't run and I didn't find
>>>>>the Java runtime among the installable Windows components...)
>>>>>
>>>>>mfg.
>>>>>Michael
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Microsoft has removed Java support from recent versions of Windows with
>>>>-probably- the idea to hurt Sun, as Java is definitely a competitor to their
>>>>.NET stuff.
>>>>
>>>>There has been a lot of buzz around this a few months ago. A judge was about to
>>>>order Microsoft to put Java back in Windows, but it has not happened yet.
>>>>
>>>>In the IT area, a delay of a few weeks is enough to change completely the
>>>>landscape and to put companies out of business. Decisions of "Justice" take
>>>>several years to come. Microsoft knows this and knows that they can act
>>>>illegally: by the time the ruling against them arrives, all they have to pay for
>>>>is the coffin of their dead competitor.
>>>>
>>>>Ordinary people like you and me have a naive view of ethics: I would not kill
>>>>anybody because it's a bad thing to do. Some "superiorly intelligent" people
>>>>have another way of looking at this: they simply ask themselves how much it will
>>>>cost them to murder somebody, and how much they will gain from the murder.
>>>>
>>>>But hey, everything I'm talking about here is naturally done in the interest of
>>>>"innovation" and in the deepest interest of the consumer.
>>>>
>>>>I'm soooooo glad somebody out there is taking care of me and of the stuff I'm
>>>>allowed to run on my computer.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>    Christophe
>>>
>>>Microsoft removed Java support from its products because Sun explicitely
>>>required that. That was one of the conditions of settlement between Sun and
>>>Microsoft.
>>>
>>>At the time of settlement Sun CEO Scott McNealy said "this is a victory for our
>>>licensees and consumers", so consumers should be happy, right?
>>>
>>>Thanks,
>>>Eugene
>>
>>
>>
>>Your comment is partial because it tells only half of the story - the half that
>>sounds good for your company.
>>
>>Here is what happened:
>>
>>1) Microsoft tried to create a version of Java that would have been incompatible
>>with the version they had licensed from Sun (Java's author). The idea was to use
>>their monopoly on desktop operating systems to inondate the market with this
>>incompatible version of Java, effectively taking control of the language
>>specifications. Why? Because developpers would naturally target their apps to
>>run on the most widespread version of the language, rendering the original Sun
>>version of the language obsolete (this strategy has been used for years by
>>Microsoft and is known as "Embrace and Extend"). This is clearly in violation of
>>the Java license agreement between Sun and Microsoft. And the result is that if
>>Java became a popular programming platform, users could not use anything else
>>than Windows as the underlying OS (using the Windows monopoly to reinforce the
>>Windows monopoly).
>>
>>2) Sun asked Microsoft to:
>>
>>  a) stop shipping this incompatible version of Java with Windows, and
>>
>>  b) ship a version that was in agreement with their license: a version
>>compatible with the standard created by Sun.
>>
>>3) A judge ruled in favor of Sun for both a and b.
>>
>>4) Microsoft appealed the decision.
>>
>>5) In a further ruling, a three judge panel decided somewhat differently:
>>
>>  a) they agreed that Microsoft exceeded the scope of the license agreement, and
>>that Microsoft should stop shipping its incompatible version of Java with
>>Windows. That is the victory for Sun that you mention.
>>
>>  b) but they did not go as far as forcing Microsoft to ship the standard
>>version of Java with Windows. That's where is Sun is losing, because Microsoft
>>can get away with murder (having spread a version of Java that was incompatible
>>with the standard, effectively hurting the Java language).
>>
>>
>>You can find plenty of information about this on the net. For example:
>>
>>  http://news.com.com/2100-1007_3-1021452.html
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>    Christophe
>
>And here are 2 additional facts:
>
>(a) At the time Sun started its legal attack on Microsoft, Microsoft's
>implementation of Java was *the* most confirming Java implementation. It was
>more compatible with Java specification that Sun's own implementation.
>
>(b) When some researcher pointed to Sun that Sun's Java implementation violates
>Java specification (Java memory model), Sun continued to ship incompatible
>implementation for several years. Not sure about current status, because I
>stopped tracking Java several years ago.
>
>It looks that some Java implementations are more equal than others...
>
>Thanks,
>Eugene


1) I am not sure about b - I dont know whether this is true or not.
Even if it is true , but this still remains a bug in the VM implementation -
nothing more , nothing less.

2) Sun's "legal attack" on microsoft was necessiated by their proprietory
extensions to java - which were _not_ compatible with other VM implementation.
This is direct violation of the agreement - which was the reason Sun won the
suit.


Mridul



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