Linux community FUD on Java

Java has failed

• August 1988 issue of Sunworld, Linus interview, "Java has died"
• Why has Linux succeeded where Java failed? Linuxtoday.com, Dec99
• "Java is dying, and we want to avoid that with Linux" - keynote at linuxworld show, NY, 2feb2000

The truth:

• Linux market share: 0.3%
• Java market share: large.

  "Java overtakes C++, takes number one development slot" www.it-director.com/00-02-10-2.html (actually VB still number one).

  IEEE Computer feb 2000 p.23 : 70% of companies using java in 2000, up from 55% in 1998.

  Cutter consortium survey: 51% of software developers use java, vedrsus 37% who use C++.

  Java most popular teaching language.

  Microsoft: C# and .NET are java/jvm clones.

• Bruce Perens: the fact that java is not open source has hampered its widespread acceptance.

  Truth: java is widely accepted, and it is open source, just not according to his definition.

• Companies spent 1billion on high-end java app servers between 98 and 2000 http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20010822S0001 Information Week 24aug01.

  It was Java that allowed large companies to consider Linux!

Java is slow

• Benchmarking Java against C and Fortran for Scientific Applications pdf Mark Bull, Lorna Smith, Lindsay Pottage, Robin Freeman, EPCC, University of Edinburgh (Java outperforms KAI C/C++ compiler for numerical codes on linux.)

• http://www.idiom.com/~zilla/Computer/javaCbenchmark.html

• scimark http://math.nist.gov/scimark2/ has both java & C codes for a scientific/numerical benchmark.

  Linux 500mhz pIII,
  JAVA ibm jdk130, composite mflops=84.48
  C    (gcc -O6),  composite mflops=87.14