[Ham-Computers] Java update problem

Mon Aug 23 14:23:09 EDT 2010

Loren,

It may be a "to each his own" type of thing, but your point is well taken, and I appreciate you making it.  I most certainly have not conducted a scholarly study, but I understand that "all that glitters is not gold" and Java likely didn't make the language available out of the goodness of their hearts.  I also can't find any information to suggest that there were hordes banging at their door, pleading for that particular language.  Absent that, there quite likely were other motives.

Of late, most of their updates/upgrades have seemed to be directed toward fixing code problems that made Java vulnerable to one issue or another.  Of course, you and I both know that Java is not alone in that respect.

In the days when Aaron Hsu could more often be a participant on this list, there seemed to be many others who apparently were preparing to remove their Java.  I remember someone detailing about a dozen versions of Java on their machine, each over 100 MB, and asking if anyone knew why it had to be there.  Aaron replied that even though he, too, didn't appreciate the lack of downward compatibility, certain routines might not run if a particular Java version was removed.  Indeed, that was true.  I stopped using more than one application, because it required an early version of Java, and switched to something not using Java at all, so that I could remove the old Java.  Eventually, I got it down to only Java JRE 6.

In the case of the recent problem I had, apparently certain code in the in the newest update was inconsistent what the OS on certain machines could tolerate, and the word of warning had been passed far and wide, but was apparently disregarded, so when this Java update automatically came down the pike and tried to install on my machine, it corrupted the entire Java code.  My information comes from a major, nearby university that had experienced this same issue numerous times on their campus, with staff and students alike, and they knew what they had to do to fix it.

It may also be a "you get about what you pay for" type of thing.

John

--- On Mon, 8/23/10, ham-computers-request at mailman.qth.net <ham-computers-request at mailman.qth.net> wrote:

From: ham-computers-request at mailman.qth.net <ham-computers-request at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Ham-Computers Digest, Vol 79, Issue 10
To: ham-computers at mailman.qth.net
Date: Monday, August 23, 2010, 12:00 PM

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Today's Topics:

   1. Re: Java update problem (Loren Moline  WA7SKT)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Sun, 22 Aug 2010 09:02:44 -0700
From: "Loren Moline  WA7SKT" <lmoline at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Ham-Computers] Java update problem
To: <ham-computers at mailman.qth.net>
Message-ID: <COL102-W54FD5C468588CDA89EFBCCAF810 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

John,

We must remember that a lot of our software and things we run are free including updates of Java etc. When we have problems with them we must consider that others have spent countless hours writing such software and we are the benefactors for no expense.

If I get something for free and its not quite right I have not lost a penny.

Loren   WA7SKT

Member: ARRL and Pacific Northwest VHF Society
Member: Hearsat Satellite Monitoring Group ( www.hearsat.org )
Location: CN86cx                                                                                        

> Date: Fri, 20 Aug 2010 10:09:49 -0700
> From: jandlmiller at bellsouth.net
> To: ham-computers at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: [Ham-Computers] Java update problem
> 
> To close the loop, the Java update problem I was having was totally and rapidly solved by using Revo Uninstaller.  Look here:
> 
> http://www.revouninstaller.com/
> 
> Working at the deepest level to identify and uninstall all remnants of Java(TM)6 Update 20 and apparently some particles of Update 21 that were "stuck," Revo Uninstaller quickly made short work of clearing the log jam.
> 
> Microsoft Windows XP Add-Remove would not perform an Uninstall of Update 20, apparently because portions of Update 21 were in the road and confusing.  Other registry cleaners apparently were not working deeply enough to be effective.
> 
> As nearly as I can guess, an attempted, automatic update to Update 20, by Update 21, must not have been too "clean" and did not install properly on one of my machines.  Thereafter, I could remove the mess by any common method known to man or beast.
> 
> I'd be quite pleased to dump all Java, along with all Adobe, except that lots of things on the Internet depend upon one or the other, or both.  All we can hope for is that eventually they clean up their respective acts.
> 
> Incidentally, if you'd like to dump Adobe Reader 8 or 9, or earlier, try the free Foxit Reader that I have found to work faster and with less storage space.  Go here:
> 
> http://www.foxitsoftware.com/
> 
> John W0IKT
> 
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End of Ham-Computers Digest, Vol 79, Issue 10
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