I think this is an excellent point. While I'm in strong agreement with all the problems that need to be fixed in Java (and am amazed at some of the ones I didn't even know about, being a third-year CS student and not a real programmer), I think we should give Sun kudos for acknowledging that there are major flaws in their own language.
Now, on the down side, this is an internal memo, so it wasn't really supposed to be public knowledge, right? And a lot of the problems seem to be related to Sun's unwillingness to fix glaring problems in their design and update process. So maybe they get neutral kudos.
The article linked to makes an excellent point about the main problems associated with enforcing such a law. If someone creates fake Yahoo! accounts from Tahiti and uses them to tell you about how you can turn your cocktail weenie into a Polish sausage in just two weeks, the state of Washington is going to have a hard time going after the culprit.
I think this problem, and other problems associated with the internet, can only be realistically attacked by treating the Internet like what it is; an alternate universe that sprawls across the entire planet. International law needs to be written regulating how this sort of thing is going to be addressed, or it's simply not going to work.
Of course, that brings up all kinds of interesting side-issues having to do with enforcement. I'm certain there are any number of things I'm missing (I usually learn about these issues by reading other people's posts and following their links, but I seem to be the first responder to this one), so those of you who know more about this sort of thing; educate me!
They may very well say in their webpage that a particular version of IE is required, but they can't *enforce* it. If my copy of Netscape or the web browser I programmed myself is capable of reading the same web protocols as IE, I'm certainly free to do so. That message merely indicates that the code used on the page includes commands that older web browsers won't understand. It's not a legal threat.
Slashdot Mirror
I think this is an excellent point. While I'm in strong agreement with all the problems that need to be fixed in Java (and am amazed at some of the ones I didn't even know about, being a third-year CS student and not a real programmer), I think we should give Sun kudos for acknowledging that there are major flaws in their own language.
Now, on the down side, this is an internal memo, so it wasn't really supposed to be public knowledge, right? And a lot of the problems seem to be related to Sun's unwillingness to fix glaring problems in their design and update process. So maybe they get neutral kudos.
The article linked to makes an excellent point about the main problems associated with enforcing such a law. If someone creates fake Yahoo! accounts from Tahiti and uses them to tell you about how you can turn your cocktail weenie into a Polish sausage in just two weeks, the state of Washington is going to have a hard time going after the culprit.
I think this problem, and other problems associated with the internet, can only be realistically attacked by treating the Internet like what it is; an alternate universe that sprawls across the entire planet. International law needs to be written regulating how this sort of thing is going to be addressed, or it's simply not going to work.
Of course, that brings up all kinds of interesting side-issues having to do with enforcement. I'm certain there are any number of things I'm missing (I usually learn about these issues by reading other people's posts and following their links, but I seem to be the first responder to this one), so those of you who know more about this sort of thing; educate me!
~Benjamin
They may very well say in their webpage that a particular version of IE is required, but they can't *enforce* it. If my copy of Netscape or the web browser I programmed myself is capable of reading the same web protocols as IE, I'm certainly free to do so. That message merely indicates that the code used on the page includes commands that older web browsers won't understand. It's not a legal threat.