Hi Mark, I know it is not necessarily helpful to post comments along the lines of "this aint working" without suggesting viable alternatives but given that I am not privy to Oracle's strategic plans for Web Start or Java in the browser and not privy to the internal technological limitations of such functionality I can only highlight the situation as perceived by the end user and also by the developer.
I think it's true that most commercial developers of Java/JavaFX applications will probably want to deploy their software as native bundles or through an app store in preference to Web Start. This may be because their are security issues with Web Start apps that don't effect locally deployed apps and also because of the other issues with Web Start that I referred to. Also, there are some limitations with Web Start in terms of versioning such as: 1. What if I want to install a specific version? 2. What if I *don't* want to install the version currently offered through the Web Start link because it is not compatible with my system configuration or with other software? 3. How do I roll-back to a previous version if I want to? Your comments on corporate deployment are spot on though. However, there are other options for updating software that do not require Web Start. Indeed, many applications *not* written in Java are able to update themselves through a "Check for updates" menu option or similar. Surely Java/JavaFX applications could be updated in the same way? I recall there was a discussion on this list earlier this year on this very subject with links to 3rd-party auto-updating mechanisms and discussions on Oracle's own plans in ths area. If such a mechanism is developed then *all* JavaFX applications could make use of it and then what would be the need for Web Start? Corporations utilise thousands of applications not written in Java that have the ability to update themselves so why not Java/JavaFX applications too? Cheers, -jct ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Fortner" To:"Daniel Zwolenski" Cc:"mike.ehrenb...@barchart.com Ehrenberg" , "openjfx-dev@openjdk.java.net" , "JeremyJongsma" Sent:Thu, 18 Jul 2013 14:30:16 -0700 Subject:Re: JavaFX 8 Progress I've heard the "webstart is broke, don't fix it, move on" song before from a number of people. What I haven't heard is a credible solution to solving the very real problem of keeping an app up-to-date in a corporate setting. For the most part, I agree that if you're in the business of selling commercial software, selling and distributing through an app store probably makes sense for you. Although I wouldn't relish having to build on all of those platforms. However, posting proprietary apps to external OS-specific app stores doesn't really work for anyone in a corporate setting. Neither does making a user re-install an application every time you post a bug fix. In addition, many corporations limit the privileges they give users. Cheers, Mark
