[clug] Why isn't Java popular on the Linux Desktop?

[Daniel Pittman]

Sam Couter <sam at couter.id.au> writes:
> Jack Kelly <endgame.dos at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Autotools support for java is nowhere near the level of C or C++.
>
> You're doing it wrong.
>
> Java is cross-platform and just doesn't suffer from the problems
> autotools solves.

Well, some of the problems; locating compatible versions of libraries and
handling changes to ABI between library releases is still an issue for Java
software.

One of the big distribution problems it faces in Debian, for example, is that
most packaged library releases change ABI between versions, so release 1.0 and
1.1 are not compatible.

This leads to many Java software packages shipping all their dependencies as
compiled Java code along with the application, duplication of code, and a
general mismatch with the Debian method of distributing and using system
libraries.

Plus, obviously, all the security and related issues that follow from what is
effectively static linking of your application and a specific release of a
third party library. :)

Regards,
        Daniel

Not that this is unique to Java; the Ruby people have dedicated huge effort to
ensuring that they suffer exactly the same problem by carefully designing
their software distribution "solutions" to embed the same core faults.

-- 
✣ Daniel Pittman            ✉ daniel at rimspace.net            ☎ +61 401 155 707
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