If Icedtea-web is the plug-in component for OpenJDK upstream, its name should be openjdk-plugin !

[Fernando Cassia]

On Sun, Apr 15, 2012 at 14:40, Andrew Haley <aph at redhat.com> wrote:
> Actually, it's the other way around: the plugin used to be part of the
> Fedora openjdk packages until recently.  We spun it out because we
> need to be able to update it asynchronously.  So, the reason it's
> separate is purely technical, and necessary.

Hi Andrew

Technically, call it Supacatchatroopa* if you guys so wish.
I wasn't speaking about technical organization of the programming
team, internal code name, etc.
Or whether one

I was speaking about a concept that might sound foreign to
programmers: USER EXPERIENCE.

Here I go again:

1. There' s one "Open Source Java" package. Its name is OpenJDK
2. Unlike in the Windows, Mac and Linux JRE world, the plug-in and JWS
in this version of "Open Source Java" is not part of the main package,
it' s an external one.
3. The user who install Java, usually wants the full Java experience.
In other words, he installs OpenJDK to run Java desktop apps, applets,
and run Java Web Start apps.
4. If he uses his favorite package manager and types OpenJDK, and
chooses to install that, he gets a "half-Java" (OpenJDK but no plug-in
and no JWS support).
5. So he scratches his head while thinking "I've got Java, but no
plug-in. But I just installed OpenJDK!".
6. He has to somehow ask for help on mailing lists, once someone tells
him "that' s because the Java plug-in and JWS support for OpenJDK is
called Icedtea, you d*rk, how didn't you figure that out yourself?"
(I'm exaggerating for dramatic effect).

So, again, why can't the package now known as Icedtea-web be called
"OpenJDK-plugin"?
I think "because some eons ago there was some package dubbed
openjdk-plugin and renaming Icedtea-web would put at risk the balance
of the Universe" is not a valid excuse, IMHO.

>> it'd suffice if IcedTea-Web team recommends distros to include an
>> alias for the Icedtea-web package, named "openjdk-plugin" becase,
>> gee, not everyone in the world knows that the open source java has a
>> plugin with a totally unrelated name to the open source java package
>> name (OpenJDK).
>
> That's not totally unreasonable.  Is the issue simply that the name of
> the plugin doesn't come up when you're searching for a package name
> with yum?

The issue is simply the name, totally unrelated to OpenJDK. If
Icedtea-web is the de-facto plug-in implementation for OpenJDK,
why-oh-why not call it "OpenJDK Plug-in"?. You can keep the icedtea
name for other parts of code that do not affect the end user
experience (hooks to alternative VMs, etc).

as per
http://openjdk.java.net/projects/icedtea/
"In due time, we hope that many of the enhancements provided by
IcedTea will appear in the main OpenJDK7 development tree"

Is my request too unreasonable?. Again, it's not about the technical
organization of the project, it's not about code, it's not about
repos, it's about the END USER'S EXPERIENCE of "Installing OpenJDK for
Java support, and the plug-in that goes along with it". How would you
name such plugin? packagename-plugin or supacatchatroopa*?

Thanks for your time.

FC
* Supacatchatroopa
http://www.uvlist.net/game-34328-Supacatchatroopa

-- 
During times of Universal Deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act
- George Orwell