64 Bit Java Plugin

This is not a rant, and is kind of old news now. That said, I am still baffled by how long it took Sun to release a 64-bit Java plug in. I was just reading the bug id here:

Bug ID: 4802695 Support 64-bit Java Plug-in and Java webstart on Windows/Linux on AMD64

This bug was open for 4 years!! It had over 800 votes. I remember when I started using a 64-bit browser in 2008, getting Java to work in it was a nightmare… all sorts of hacks. Anyone know why they left this so long…?

/jlar

On Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:36:01 +0000, eeijlar wrote:

> This bug was open for 4 years!! It had over 800 votes. I remember when I
> started using a 64-bit browser in 2008, getting Java to work in it was a
> nightmare… all sorts of hacks. Anyone know why they left this so
> long…?

No idea why they did, but I use an AMD64 platform here, and AFAIK the
Java plugin is 64-bit and from Sun…so perhaps they just forgot to
close the bug.

Jim


Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Moderator

eeijlar wrote:
> Anyone know why they left this so long…?

my guess: because java worked perfectly on the 32 bit platform and no
one on earth can outline why or how browsing with a 64 bit java
environment could be superior in any way…maybe?

exactly what benefits should/do you expect? (i mean, past the obvious
‘benefit’ of fulling: “i have a 64 bit machine so i want a complete 64
bit system”…if there is any actual benefit in fulfilling that want…)


palladium
AMD 64 running a smooth, stable, dependable openSUSE 32 2.6.22.19-0.4

There’s been a native 64-bit browser plugin for Java since early 2008, and IIRC Linux has had it longer than Windows (heck, the iced-tea variant of Java has had it even longer).

Why did it take so long? Well, why has Adobe taken so long in making a 64-bit flash player? When it comes to web browsing, there isn’t any real benefit to 64-bit computers over 32-bit. 64-bit x86 processors have been around since 2003, yet only recently has there been any big push to move the consumer market over to it.

And if you consider things like netbooks, 32-bit-only x86 processors have been making a comeback for the low-cost, web browsing only demographic. Given that, I’d say 32-bit processors are all the current web needs for people to be happy. Web browsers haven’t even started to tap the full power of a 32-bit processor, let alone need the extensions offered by 64-bit. The only reason I think 64-bit plug-ins have even come out yet is b/c of the multitudes of Linux/UNIX people requesting them.

srschifano wrote:
> The only reason I think 64-bit plug-ins
> have even come out yet is b/c of the multitudes of Linux/UNIX people
> requesting them.

and that is the way i see it, but i’m waiting to hear why the OP is so
impatient…


palladium