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

[Ben Coughlan]

On 20/07/2009, at 12:39 PM, Hugh Fisher wrote:

> Daniel Pittman wrote:
>> I assume you are restricting your comment to "portability without  
>> effort",
>> because there is plenty of evidence that portable software is  
>> possible. ;)
>
> ...
>
> At the other end, the IBM Deep Blue chess program must be the least
> portable piece of sofware written for many decades, with (IIRC)
> exactly one possible computer to run on. But so what? It did the
> job it was designed for.
>
> ...

I don't think that anyone is saying Java fits every situation.  I  
don't think there is any language that does.  However it certainly has  
it's place in the world.

The best example I can think of is 'web start' applications (not  
applets).  These are complete fat clients that need to be as portable  
as the HTML page they were accessed from.  Many developers require  
that level of portability, and the trade-offs make sense for them.

I may be a Java fanboy, but I've done a lot of work recently in  
Python, C and Ada.  They all have their reasons for being.

Ben Coughlan