We are forwarding this for you to see. This is not specifically an
endorsement of the letter below nor of Microsoft’s practices/policies — it
is for your information and for you to make up your own mind. If we are
sent an equivalent letter to support Microsoft, we will distribute that as
well.
MacDev-1 Team
——————-
From: David Schargel, davids@aportis.com
Dear friends,
I am writing you this message to ask for action.
A few short days ago, Microsoft released the final Win95/NT version of the
Internet Explorer 4.0 web browser. This browser, as expected, does not
contain an implementation of Java that is fully-compliant with the Java
core platform. It may have a compatible JVM, but it does not contain the
full class libraries of the JDK 1.1 implementations of Java. The omissions
seem to be intentional.
Let’s be clear, IMHO Microsoft is deliberately trying to destroy the chance
for Java to fulfill its “write once, run anywhere” promise. Java
portability is the single most attractive and critical of its features, and
Microsoft will do everything it can to nip it in the bud. Microsoft wants
to prevent Java from successfully reaching maturity because Microsoft
cannot control Java.
Many, many times, Microsoft marketing people have said that Java is
important to Microsoft. Even Cornelius Willis, director of platform
marketing at Microsoft, has publicly stated “We want developers to know
that we are going to give them a choice with safety. We will enable
everything for both Java and Visual Basic, JavaScript and VBScript.
Everything will run in Netscape, we will be browser independent.” And now,
months later, IE 4.0 does not include full support for the Java 1.1 core
platform.
All of us should not be waylaid by efforts of highly paid marketing “media
hacks” and professional spin-doctors. These people may preach as though
they understand the issues, but we know that most of them have never even
written “hello, world” in Java. They are not our peers, they are not
developers, they are mouthpieces. They are paid to disinform, and to try to
cast doubt on the viability of the emergent platform that a number
companies (including 2 of my own) have collectively decided to support.
I will not refer to what Microsoft has delivered as “Java”. They may call
it “best of breed” if they wish, but the species to which they refer is
clearly not Java.
I will take every chance I get to tell everyone I know that I believe Java
represents our best hope for freedom of choice in the future of technology,
and that I feel Microsoft is trying to kill it. If you don’t understand the
issues, I can explain to you, in plain terms, why I feel Java portability
is so important.
I hope each of you will stand with me in opposition to this Microsoft
attack on Java portability, and that our unity will inspire others to join
us. There are a number of actions that you can take right now to help.
1) A newly formed Java Lobby (http://www.javalobby.org) is a place for
peoples who common interest in Java software development and the
advancement of Java standards and software. Join them and participate.
2) Tell the U.S. Department of Justice we are not happy. A sign-on letter
is available at http://www.essential.org/antitrust/ms/browserletter.html 3)
Participate in the JavaWorld Internet Poll (http://nigeria.wpi.com/cg
i-bin/gwpoll/gwpoll) asking your opinion about Java’s “write once, run
anywhere” concept.
“Where do you want Microsoft to go today?”
Thanks for your time and hopeful support.
Best regards,
David Schargel
President, Aportis Technologies Corp.
Chairman, Aladdin Systems, Inc.
DavidS@aportis.com