The State of OpenJDK In Early 2018

[caligula]

"native apps" is a bad or at least a confusing label. Some people use that label to refer to apps written in C and not apps written in Java/libgdx or C#/Unity or JavaScript, which isn't an important distinction. Normal users care about the user experience, not the the developer side technologies.

You use an IMAP email client... Most people do have email phone/tablet apps, and use browser-based clients on their workstation/laptop. The days of full workstation email apps like Outlook or Thunderbird are mostly over.

I do believe the days of WinForms apps or Java Swing apps is mostly over, with a few important exceptions, notably JetBrains IDEs.

I use tons of local command line software... I use GUI desktop software like: web browser, chat client, IDE, text editor, pdf viewer, and a shell terminal. And maybe a game or two after work

When I read the web 2.0 hype, I get the impression that almost everyone does almost everything in a browser. Still I see very few professional programs ported to JS.

[DanLamb]

When I read the web 2.0 hype, I get the impression that almost everyone does almost everything in a browser. Still I see very few professional programs ported to JS.

Use whatever you want. If browser-based software doesn't make you happier or solve problems, then don't use them. If you prefer using classic desktop email clients like Thunderbird over web-mail like gmail, go ahead. But realistically, the world has moved towards the latter, regardless of what you or I prefer.

No, definitely not everyone does everything in a browser. I'm a programmer, and use a desktop IDE, desktop text editor, a local shell, and tons of local command line tools, I set up local databases, local Virtual Machines, etc. I do prefer Google Sheets over LibreOffice or Excel, but I'm definitely not trying to sell that or push that on anyone else.

I do know other people who do just use their laptop for email, calendar, docs, spreadsheets, web, and social media. They can do all that in a browser. Lots of people have switched to chromebooks and they love them. That's their choice. You do what makes you happy.

[nils_]

Other desktop Java software like JetBrains IDEs or games like Wakfu bundle a Java runtime that the user doesn't have to see or think about or be responsible for installing/maintaining.

Of course that adds potential security issues, and also when bundling Oracle JRE you have to pay them...

[Michael_S]

That's pretty awful, what's the ID of your bug report?

There are a few bugs like it already filed: https://bugs.openjdk.java.net/browse/JDK-8193677
The same issue is referenced indirectly in this bug on a Java project in Github, https://github.com/igvteam/igv/issues/326

http://dietrichschroff.blogspot.com/2017/07/openjdk-9-jshell-using-swing-doing-gui.html

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/openjdk-9/+bug/1551532

I saw all of those pages when investigating the issue, so didn't file a new bug report.

[DJViking]

I'd guess they have been evaluating it for some time now, but it takes time to replace stuff. Their app doesn't really use any of the more advanced features.

Porting an application from Swing to JavaFX takes time. Depending on how complex the application is, perhaps years. Our business application took 1 year to port to JavaFX.

Perhaps, but maintaining an installation of Oracle JRE just to play minecraft sounds like a drag too.

With javapackager or jlink (Java 9) you can build an native application that bundles the Java runtime. So no longer any need to have Java installed.

Of course that adds potential security issues, and also when bundling Oracle JRE you have to pay them...

There is no demand fromOracle to pay them for bundling Java with the application.

[nils_]

[QUOTE=DJViking;n1008383]With javapackager or jlink (Java 9) you can build an native application that bundles the Java runtime. So no longer any need to have Java installed.[/qquote]

I mostly deal in server software, not client side stuff (although I do run a few JetBrains products). Dealing with bundled JREs can be a special headache when security vulnerabilities are found since it's very hard to find out which versions of Java you currently have installed. It gets even more complicated when everything is linked in with Java. I don't know if common scanners would identify a binary like this as vulnerable.

There is no demand fromOracle to pay them for bundling Java with the application.

Are you sure? I don't think that's the case for their JDK.

[caligula]

[QUOTE=nils_;n1008677]

With javapackager or jlink (Java 9) you can build an native application that bundles the Java runtime. So no longer any need to have Java installed.[/qquote]

I mostly deal in server software, not client side stuff (although I do run a few JetBrains products). Dealing with bundled JREs can be a special headache when security vulnerabilities are found since it's very hard to find out which versions of Java you currently have installed. It gets even more complicated when everything is linked in with Java. I don't know if common scanners would identify a binary like this as vulnerable.

The new jlink/module/jigsaw model should help with this. You can explictly state module version and link with multiple versions. It's much easier to combine code with version info intact. Even link with multiple versions of the same dep.

[DanLamb]

Of course that adds potential security issues, and also when bundling Oracle JRE you have to pay them...

Don't use the main Oracle Java. Use Oracle's GraalVM with native build. Or use Amazon's Corretto version of Java, which is just a completely free variant of the GPL OpenJDK with Amazon support and patches.