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 15:44, Florian Weimer <fw at deneb.enyo.de> wrote:
> Because it's a component which hasn't got to do much with OpenJDK.

In my view it has much to do with OpenJDK. It provides the only
working plug-in implementation to be used with OpenJDK.

> The plugin derives from a separate code base.

Again, for the end user, this is meaningless. The code could derive
from the International Space Station. (joke, joke!)

> Furthermore, Oracle has
> asked the public not to use "OpenJDK" for programs which are not
> substantially the same as something which Oracle publishes under the
> name "OpenJDK".

http://icedtea.classpath.org/wiki/Main_Page
"The IcedTea project provides (...) and adds a number of key features
to the upstream OpenJDK codebase:
    A Free 64-bit plugin with LiveConnect and Java Web Start support"

> That being said, I'm not even sure if it is a good idea to make the
> plug-in easier to install.

Why not drop it altogether, then? Along with Java Web Start, just
because there's the remote possibility of someone using it badly.

Instead of fixing code, just remove it and be done with it.
Now this is sarcasm.

>  It's the main way the OpenJDK code base is
> exposed to mobile code, after all.

I guess you mean hostile code?. Well, the web is hostile. But I don't
see Mozilla making an argument about making Firefox harder to install
because some sites might cause problems or contain malware.

I'm saddened now, all I wanted to do was making a case about improving
the end user experience for Java (OpenJDK) users on Linux. And what I
got so far (saving Andrew's first response hinting it wasn't such a
bad idea), is reaction against change. The status quo must be
wonderful, then.

I just wanted to promote the great Java apps available via JWS out
there, apps that I use frequently like

http://antaki.ca/bloom/Bloom.jnlp
http://ho.io/jdiskreport
http://ho.io/mu-commander
http://jshot.info/jshot/webstart/jshot.jnlp
http://download.powerfolder.com/pro/webstart/PowerFolder.jnlp
http://omegat.sourceforge.net/webstart.html

...just to name a few.

But I can't/Won't do it if installing OpenJDK on Linux leaves users
with an incomplete user experience, because the plug-in has a strange
name that no one knows about.

Sincerelly

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