So, a few weeks ago, Ubuntu “upgraded” Firefox 2.0.0.12 (which is a decent release) to Firefox 3 Beta and I couldn’t view any java applets any more. The reason is because some of the file paths are changing and the plugins need to be linked to a different spot. I had to try Opera but it crashed. That left me with Konqueror, which is not native to Gnome, for the time being.
That has just changed. I just found Bug #173966 and there was a hack proposed that helped me to get back on track. The solution, for now:
cd /usr/lib/xulrunner-addons/plugins/
ln -s /usr/lib/firefox/plugins/libjavaplugin.so . <–note the “dot”
Your plugin path might be different, but that’s where one place mine can be found (actually, its a symbolic link to the plugin, which is in /etc/alternatives/firefox-javaplugin.so)
I haven’t tried out firefox 3 but I’ve used this symbolic link solution for other plugin issues in mozilla before. As for using java as an applet I’ve essentially lost interest in the whole thing despite the fact that my chat applet is still dependent upon it!
Though AJAX will have its own stability and compatibility issues at least it runs faster than java especially in mozilla. For example, see how fast http://tryruby.hobix.com/ loads and works in the firefox browser (at least in Windows…for shame on me)!
Viewing this thread of Ajax versus Java at http://www.javalobby.org/java/forums/t65704.html makes me realize the importance of the good ol stand alone applications!
One malcontented person goes on to heap the blame on SUN saying: “The blame belongs squarely on the shoulders of Sun. Sun was not able cut a deal with Dell to include a JVM by default. Sun was not able to deliver a JRE that could update itself. Sun was not able to cut a deal with MS (ok so maybe that’s not so much their fault). Sun was not able to make java web start not suck so much or so ugly. Sun was not able to deliver a JVM that could share applications. Sun was not able to deliver a non sucky performance GUI till 1.5.
Sure we all waited around patiently for Sun to deliver on the promise of java but everybody else with a dollop of common sense has left. All that’s left in the building of Java GUI apps and applets are the true believers. The rest of world has moved on. Right now they are all going on the AJAX train because although it doesn’t promise much it actually delivers on it’s promises.
So lets all blame the right party here. Sun is as fault, nobody else.”
I still feel Java has a lot to offer, but unfortunately Java never really became popular either as a server side scripting language or a client side applet. What *has* become popular is alternative technologies like embedded Flash and Javascript.
Will Java ever catch up? I’m not sure it will on the hobbyist/amateur web development platform, but on corporate servers, I guess it will still some value.
I agree with both of you.
Hari, Devin is just bemoaning the fact that he has to use an applet in his job that has to run on a certain (extremely old) version of Sun’s jvm (version 1.3 something) and its as slow as molassas going uphill in the winter.
Thanks for the tip.