java Archive

Woke up this morning, did the rounds and was presented with the following message to update my Java installation. The message tells me that when I update Java, I will also get OpenOffice free. Hmm, I have no need for OpenOffice so I won’t update the Java application because it appears to me from this bubble that when I update the Java, I automatically get the FREE OpenOffice software.

Just because something is free does not mean it isn’t bound by the same ethical standards as something for a price. Since a large majority of users have the Java app installed, I am looking forward to the OpenOffice release that announces the new millions of installs over the past month and I will bet there will be no note about this semi-forced installation.

Who thought of this idea to create a very confusing update bubble? When you click on the bubble, here is the message that appears:

So if I click "install", am I also installing OpenOffice or only Java? In my opinion, this feels very deceptive. Didn’t RealMedia use this "marketing" technique years ago? And isn’t it one of the reasons they are so hated today?

Looks like this open-source thing might actually work! Sun is making its Java technology an open-source software project available for free on the Internet.

From the release:

The announcement represents one of the largest additions of computer code to the open-source community — and it marks a major shift for a company that had once fiercely protected the source code used in 3.8 billion cell phones, supercomputers, medical devices and other gadgets.

Rich Green, Sun's executive vice president of software, said the company hopes to turn more developers into Java programmers, who may then create additional software to support Sun products.

"The open-sourcing of this really means more — more richness of offerings, more capability, more applications that consumers will get to use," Green said. "The platform itself will become a place for innovation."

All the Java source code is expected to be released by March 2007, Green said.