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Java applets are soon to be killed off forever. I understand why we shouldn't make new ones. But what will happen to old ones? There are still Java applets that people may use, and there's no guarantee that anyone will be willing or able to port them to JavaScript.
For example, this online computer music book has a lot of Java applets that explain and visualize certain digital audio concepts. Another course I'm taking uses a lot of Java applets to visualize computational geometry ideas. When Firefox drops NPAPI support, that's it, we've cut off this great reference material to all but those willing to jump through arcane technological hoops.
The following possible solutions don't always fit the bill:
- Just use FireFox Won't be possible after 2016.
- Port it or rewrite it May not be open source, or it may not be practical to do so (e.g. lack of domain knowledge).
- Ask the original author to do it They may have stopped supporting it years ago. Doesn't make it any less effective at, say, tracing out the steps for Delaunay triangulations.
- Find an alternative If none exist, we're back to the second option. If the only ones that do exist aren't browser-based, all bets are off for convenience (which is the whole point of browser apps).
Is there currently (or will there be within a year) a convenient, cross-platform way to run existing Java applets once all the major Web browsers drop NPAPI support?
Note that:
- Actually so in-browser isn't critical, but it should still be cross-platform. Ideally I wouldn't have to download extra software (after all, I already do have a JVM installed).
- No, I'm not suggesting we re-open the security holes that Chrome and Firefox are trying to close.
- If there are alternative Web browsers out there designed specifically for legacy Java applet support (or at least with no plans to drop existing NPAPI support), I would be okay with that.
JesseTG
Posted 2015-11-12T20:16:51.240
Reputation: 311
2What’s wrong with using an old browser for old websites? – Daniel B – 2015-11-12T20:17:42.447
Why should I have to? Especially since older builds may not always be available or easy to produce (e.g. will last year's build of Firefox run on the machine I have in five years?). – JesseTG – 2015-11-12T20:19:45.100
Technically speaking the why is because of security. Current browsers shouldn't be made insecure. As for how this can be handled, many ways, check with the Firefox developers to determine what their plans are – Ramhound – 2015-11-12T20:28:05.887
Didn't say that it had to be done with current browsers, or even in a Web browser at all. I should clarify. – JesseTG – 2015-11-12T20:31:06.470
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I don't know how viable a solution it is, but the Java JDK has a debugging tool called
– heavyd – 2015-11-12T20:57:19.657appletviewerthat may work.@heavyd; Actually, I think that might be exactly what I'm looking for! Would you mind writing that as a full answer? – JesseTG – 2015-11-12T21:37:50.593
Good Question. +1 – rinfinity – 2015-11-12T21:57:51.450
2@JesseTG “Why should I have to?” Because they’re, you know, old? If you truly need old software and your current environment can’t run it, you could use a virtual machine. – Daniel B – 2015-11-12T22:21:24.720
As any longtime Mac user knows all too well, obsolescence is a simple fact of digital life. Never getting rid of a working machine is my go-to strategy (my PowerBook 150 still works), virtual machines after that. – mathematrucker – 2017-06-05T15:41:11.863
You can use a Firefox ESR version. Though these days that's about the equivalent of "using an old browser" :| https://superuser.com/a/1315442/39364
– rogerdpack – 2018-05-01T00:18:43.107I think there should be a website that provides a "nostalgia pack", palemoon with installed Java and flash, and a list of games/ content of people have done like a museum, so that people wow and ponder. – Rainb – 2020-01-21T08:52:48.113