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Java call to arms (fwd)
I think that the advice about refraining from development for Unix should
be ignored - there is Linux, after all.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 23 Jun 1997 00:42:49 -0700 (PDT)
From: Phil Agre <pagre@weber.ucsd.edu>
To: rre@weber.ucsd.edu
Subject: Java call to arms
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Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 1997 17:58
From: David Moffat[SMTP:uncledave@earthlink.net]
To: java-mac@natural.com
Subject: Preserve Your Honor--and Future
Preserve Your Honor--and Future
Microsoft has finally admitted that their version of Java will be
tied to the Windows platform. This is the reason for all their
propaganda-- spread through their own PR, as well as vicariously, through
their network of "sympathetic" analysts, columnists and industry
observers--claiming that Java is nothing more than ActiveX, that Java is
"just another language", that it is "too slow" in general, that it targets
the "lowest common denominator", and many other lies and half-truths.
What Microsoft fears most, and works to undermine, is the truth: Java
is not just a language, but also a platform. As Java gains functionality
and popularity, the underlying OS on a machine shrinks in significance.
This shrinkage is accelerated by the metamorphosis of browsers into "web-
tops" (replacements for the desktop). Soon, people will care less about
the underlying OS than about (for example) the speed of the machine. Any
fast machine that supports Java will be just fine; MS Windows will no
longer dominate personal computing.
This fact points to Microsoft's next step: before Java (the platform)
spreads much further, Microsoft will try to abandon the compatibility its
Java now shares with standard Java on the Windows platform, keeping the
language but trying to force developers to declare their allegiance to the
Windows platform, not to the Java platform.
The honorable response from developers is to not give in to
Microsoft, to not permit Microsoft the hegemony they so greedily
desire. The honorable response takes both patience and courage--to wait
for certain areas of Java to blossom, to resist the enticements (of
temporary advantages) that Microsoft offers. And courage to not hide
behind the "but I have work to do" apron strings.
Resisting Microsoft is honorable because it helps ensure a more
dynamic, progressive and egalitarian future of computing--your future.
Excessive concentrations of wealth and power, in computing or any
industry, as in political systems, stifle progress, as the big players buy
out, bully or bulldoze competition. Real competition, like real democracy,
breeds egalitarianism--a mare equitable spread of wealth and power
(industrial or political). Real competition is bad for Microsoft, but is
very good for the rest of us. For example, look what our industry has done
with Java while Microsoft has been gearing up to control us! How many
development tools companies would share any serious wealth if Microsoft
controlled Java?
So what, specifically, should our strategy be? Begin acting right now
to abandon Windows (and the Mac OS and Unix) as your target platform-- not
necessarily your development platform, but certainly your target platform.
If you develop on (not for) the Windows platform, use third-party
tools that stick to standard Java. We all tend to program to whatever
works; Microsoft knows this, and is busy laying traps throughout their
Java tools.
If you see an important hole in Java, urge and support a standard
plug to fill it. At the same time, don't whine about not being able to do
things the way you have always done them; be thankful for the opportunity
to improve your skills.
Finally, have the courage to stand up to your more technically-timid
colleagues and less-well-informed management. Ultimately, your win is
their win--and our win.
Respectfully,
Uncle Dave