[LAD] "bleeding edge html5" has interesting Audio APIs

[Patrick Shirkey]

> On Sun, 2011-11-20 at 06:04 -0500, hollunder at lavabit.com wrote:
> [...]
>> I realize this question might be provokative, but I've never seen this
>> comparison before and am genuinely interested in your opinion.
>> Both java and browser/JS are cross platform. Both are available on
>> almost
>> every device out there. Why is browser/JS the way to go?
>
> Because that is *actually* true of browser/JS, and not for Java.
>
> * Most Windows computers do not have Java.
> * Java is officially deprecated on Mac OS X.
> * Java will never, ever be available by default on any Microsoft
> platform
> * Java is not included in the default installation of the overwhelming
> majority of free software operating systems
> * Neither the most popular tablet nor the most popular smart phone (the
> iPad and iPhone, respectively) have Java at all.
> * Java requires software installation of some variety (unless you're
> seriously going to suggest using Java applets in 2011 with a straight
> face...)
> * Java recently has acquired a lot of legal questions making it not
> exactly the wisest investment for new technology.
> * There are many cutting edge modern browser implementations, and
> activity here is moving at an astonishing pace.  Java is a dinosaur.
>
> This is not the 90's.  The client side Java dream failed.
>
> Regardless, if I may take the liberty of speaking for this community,
> making people use Java for something is a sure-fire way of ensuring they
> don't use it.  The reasons why don't really matter.  The browser Just
> Works.  Java is a PITA.
>

Except that while java 6 stayed stable for several years it allowed people
who just wanted to get things done and not have to worry about the
constant hassle of dependencies and upgrades to work on improving the
features of their software.

However now that java 6 has been deprecated and Oracle is being so painful
many people will move away from java.

That still won't solve the problem of maintaining stability. It is nice to
be able to easily compile and install software that has been recently
updated on older machines that run perfectly well for everything else that
they have been painstakingly setup to handle without having to completely
rebuild the OS every 6 months to keep up with all the changes.

Even installing jack on older systems can be a royal pita let alone all
the older apps that are no longer working on newer versions of various
systems due to the devs not keeping up with the latest advancements.

Stability of a functioning build environment does have it's merits.


--
Patrick Shirkey
Boost Hardware Ltd