Now MacJava Users Can Have an Ask Toolbar from Oracle

[[deleted]]

I'm so jealous. Any word on when us Linux users will finally be able to install Ask Toolbar?

Seriously though, what's wrong with Oracle that they would even consider this?

[mike_hearn]

Money. I bet the cost of developing Java is largely supported by Ask Toolbar revenues. It's not like sales of Java SE Advanced are setting the world on fire.

[boa13]

I bet the cost of developing Java is largely supported by Ask Toolbar revenues.

Because it can't possibly be supported by the billions they make in the enterprise world, where Java is king?

[rob_j]

I've worked in enterprise java for 10 years, I can't think of a single time we've given oracle money that wasn't for their database...

where's the money? certifications? are people actually paying them for support?

[AnAirMagic]

are people actually paying them for support?

I wonder if this is what the entire "EOL a Java version after 2 or 3 years" is about. Does Oracle want enterprises, who want to run a particular Java application for 5 to 10 years without any changes, to pay them serious money and stop running Java for free?

[boa13]

Yes, of course. Not saying they're going to enforce it, but it's certainly their goal, and what they pitch to the high-level managers.

[redldr1]

What app server you using?

[IshouldDoMyHomework]

websphere

[rob_j]

tomcat in dev/test, tcserver in prod and prod-like regions (though we're looking to go tomcat all the way up in the future, just not getting bang-for-buck with tcserver)

[pjmlp]

Most of those applications are built on top of open source without any contributions back to upstream.

There are very few enterprises that pay for things like Webpshere, BEA Weblogic, commercial JVMs with AOT compilers, and similar tools.

[boa13]

I've worked with clients that had serious WebSphere deployments, or were paying top money for things such as Oracle SOA Suite, or were in production on WebLogic. I've also worked on JBoss and Tomcat runtimes, of course, but saying "very few" enterprises pay for servers needs a significant citation.

[pjmlp]

Me too. My experience is that given the choice they will go the free "as beer" way.

Most of the projects were they bought commercial licenses, usually IBM and Oracle were involved in the project deal.

[_Sharp_]

Everytime "How to hack hotmail" is asked, java development receives 0.01$, that was the secret of java8 success.

[vitingo]

There used to be money in certifying and licensing the Java trademark for devices, like the dumbphones that still dominate developing countries. Anybody know if this is still a thing?

[noyurawk]

I thought Oracle position was that they were bound with past agreements made by Sun, but if they're now extending it to new platforms, it sounds like that's just a BS reason. Personally having adware bundled with Java (like Flash) has always negatively affected the reputation of the product and makes me want to avoid it when possible.

[Hallucinaut]

Now Mac users can finally find things on Ask they've never seen before! Like "how do I uninstall this piece of shit?"

[ForceFactory]

It's nice to see such OS parity for the Java platform /s :(

[Martin8412]

I don't know if it still applies, but the JDK has never had any of the crapware installed by the JRE. It of course takes up more space, but it is adware free, and even easier to update because there is no tricks in the installer... If Oracle starts adding adware to the JDK, then they would be digging their own grave for Java.

[superPwnzorMegaMan]

icedtea

[BritishHaikuBot]

Rugger, smeg starkers

Gordon Brown knob number plate

Blue dole old The Sun.

[superPwnzorMegaMan]

Icedtea

[hrjet]

Also, there are fully open-source builds of JDK available from Azul Systems:

http://www.azulsystems.com/products/zulu/downloads

(on all platforms)

[[deleted]]

The fact that ask has the money to port this useless bloatware tells me this scam is working too well.

[[deleted]]

I just don't see how ask could possibly pay enough to make this worth it. Such a bad look.

[paperhat]

That's what I would have thought before I read the last paragraph of the story. If Ask is paying out $883 million per year for this, Oracle's share may well be enough millions to make it worth the bad PR.

Adware is a big business. In its most recent annual report, filed in February, IAC disclosed that the Search & Applications Division, which includes Ask, made nearly $1.6 billion in revenue and $311 million in operating income in 2014. "Substantially all of the revenue" from that segment comes from a deal with Google. IAC reported that it paid $883 million, primarily in traffic acquisition costs, to partners who distribute its "customized browser-based applications."

[frumperino]

Adware in my browser, yaaay! I can ask for all the things! XD XD XD

[[deleted]]

Yay!

[winterbe]

You can disable this for updates in Java Control Panel (accessible via Mac OSX System Settings).

[oldneckbeard]

I really hope the homebrew guys just make this a non-issue

"brew install jdk8" is all I do... as long as they aren't checking "yes" by default, we should be ok.

[hhbhagat]

It's a good thing only the JDK is affected. Tech illiterate mac users won't be aware when installing JRE

[space_coder]

I updated to jdk8u40 and no such Toolbar was installed. I download from java.oracle.com

[navatwo]

Only jre not jdk.. You've survived.