Good News for Java?

Sunday, January 25, 1998 by Dave Winer.

Lots of comments in response to Java Loses Netscape:

http://www.scripting.com/mail/mail980124.html

Many people view Netscape's decision as good news for Java, not bad. Developers weren't happy with Netscape's Java. Many people prefer Microsoft's approach, in MSIE, of giving the user the choice of which Java virtual machine to run. I understand this point of view, and agree with it.

That's one of the reasons it's gratifying to run DaveNet and Scripting News. We get to the root of technical issues very quicky. I provide a point of view, people respond -- learning happens, mistakes can be avoided and loops can be shortened.

Also interesting, on that page is a call from a senior guy at Netscape to Sun, to free Java in the same way that Netscape is freeing Navigator. I understood that Netscape was doing this privately, now this is public too.

Dave Winer