Java, Blacbird and The Future of the Web ...

[Thomas Dowling]

Call Me Bill Drew writes:

>Every time I comment on the lack of development or support for  
applications 

>for Windows for Workgroups, I keep getting told to awitch to Linux.  I am  
NOT 

>switching to an obscure version of UNIX for my PC. I HATE TO USE THE  
EUNUCHS 

>(UNIX) OPERATING SYSTEM. 



Bill--

Not surprisingly, developers like to write their software on platforms  
that run it well.  Take a quick scan through user complaints about Winsock  
problems and guess how that platform looks to developers (and that leaves  
out how squirrely DLL writing is said to be, and I'm sure there are a  
bunch of other problems with Win 3.x).  It really can't surprise you at  
this point that most Internet-related programs come out first on some  
flavor of Unix, get ported to other flavors of Unix, and then usually move  
on to NT, before getting to any desktop OS.

Often, the program trickles down to the lower end platforms, but you  
really must come to grips with the fact that Win 3.x as the low end is  
starting to crumble away under your feet.  The development effort that has  
been going there is veering toward Win 95, and a lot of companies won't  
have the spare staffpower to add Win 95 support and still maintain Win 3.x  
support.

>It will be many years before our library can afford more powerful  
computers 

>for public stations that could run Java applets.  I really like the  
potential 

>of Java but they should look at the installed base and provide a Windows  
3.11 

>version as well as ones for Windows 95 or Windows NT.

Maybe we're all talking at cross purposes: can you define your current  
hardware level and what you mean by "more powerful...public stations that  
could run Java..."?  By most people's standards, the hardware necessary to  
run Netscape 2.0b2/Java under Win 95 isn't too high a hurdle.  Are you  
really many years away from 486/33s with more than 4MB of RAM?  If so you  
have my sympathies, but I think your energy would be better spent  
explaining the situation to your budgeting and purchasing people.

BTW, I haven't seen anyone suggest that any form of Java is ready for  
public workstations.  What people seem to be saying is that now is the  
time to teach yourself about Java to be ahead of the curve 6 or 8 or 12  
months from now. 


Also BTW: the definitive Eunuchs joke has already appeared in Dilbert.  If  
you're going to trash Unix, please focus on one of its substantive flaws.  



Thomas Dowling
OhioLINK