Does Oracle's Java qualify as a virus.....?

Dinarius

With the (pretty much) daily updates that are now required, I'm just wondering......

Wish Larry Ellison would get off his yacht and sort out his cr*p product.

D.

Paulw

Daily updates? I think I've had two this year. Not that many, overall.

It tends to be more the implementation of java, rather than java itself that is the security issue.

Torqay

More like a pain in the behind or necessary evil for those who need it (IIRC, BoI customers are screwed without it).

Overheal

It will reach a point like flash where other developers tire of supporting it.

Fysh

Overheal wrote: »

It will reach a point like flash where other developers tire of supporting it.

JRE6 is already going out of support for end-users, though Oracle will still provide patches for corp. customers with a support contract.

JRE7 has had something like 3 or 4 updates this year, though, and each one has been met with the discovery that the update still has holes that are being actively exploited in the wild.

They're working on fixing the security model, but they're not doing it quickly or effectively enough IMO.

CreepingDeath

Dinarius wrote: »

With the (pretty much) daily updates that are now required, I'm just wondering......

Wish Larry Ellison would get off his yacht and sort out his cr*p product.

D.

It's not a crap product, it's an extremely powerful enterprise level language.
Oracle didn't invent it, Sun did, Oracle bought it from them.

The problem is embedding something so powerful in an internet browser, in the form of Java applets.

If you're not happy, install the likes of the FireFox "NoScript" plugin, which will explicitly block Java & Javascript code from executing per site, unless you permit it.

Dinarius

Paulw wrote: »

Daily updates? I think I've had two this year. Not that many, overall.

Two this year?!

I've had three in the last week. Seriously!

I'm running Windows 8 and Firefox on two machines, for what it's worth.

I do use it for Danske Bank logins. Don't know if I use it for anything else.

Thanks for the replies, as always.

D.

Vojera

Dinarius wrote: »

Two this year?!

I've had three in the last week. Seriously!

I was having the same thing, Java asking to check for updates every day, and then I realised that while I had been allowing it to check, I hadn't actually been following through and telling it to go ahead with the updates it had downloaded. Since I allowed it to install the update I haven't seen it pop up since. Could be worth checking out.

Fysh

There have been 4 JRE7 updates this year so far (11, 13, 15 and 17 according to JavaTester.org), along with 7 in 2012. Given that the 4 this year have been met with news stories about how the updates are still vulnerable to exploits which are in active use in the wild, it's a pretty poor security record.

There were also 3 JRE6 updates this year (39, 41, and 43) along with 7 in 2012. That I know of, the three JRE6 updates are also still vulnerable to active exploits, which is compounded by the product going out of support on the 23rd of Feb.

yoyo

Security experts were calling for a full re-write of the Java Runtime Enviornment by Oracle. In fairness Java has been helping to infect all kinds of machines lately, including the Macs! It's not a virus in itself, it's a very useful platform for running applications cross-platform, but it certainly does need some work, these small security patches are only delaying the next exploit, Oracle need to up their game and do something about it :pac:

Nick

Antar Bolaeisk

Vojera wrote: »

I was having the same thing, Java asking to check for updates every day, and then I realised that while I had been allowing it to check, I hadn't actually been following through and telling it to go ahead with the updates it had downloaded. Since I allowed it to install the update I haven't seen it pop up since. Could be worth checking out.

It has to be the most pain in the arse update process in the world, even Company of Heroes was easier to update

Although, to be fair, once you realise what's happening it's not too bad but why can't it update silently :mad: Also, what's with the 'allow automatic updating on Adobe Reader', you know, the one which doesn't update automatically.

RainyDay

I used to frequently get errors with Java upgrades on my Win7 laptop. I had to remove Java and reinstall from scratch each time there is an upgrade. Now I'm stuck in limbo, when I can't uninstall or upgrade. Either way, I get an error where it is looking for some .msi file that I don't have apparently. I tried Revo Uninstaller, but that wasn't any better. Any tips for getting around this?

yoyo

Ninite is the best way to update Java (and everything else actually ) I find, very efficient

Nick

Gadgetman496

yoyo wrote: »

Ninite is the best way to update Java (and everything else actually ) I find, very efficient

Nick

Amen to that

riclad

Theres no need for average user to install java, unless you are using certain specific websites that require java,plugin
OR you are a programmer/developer.
i have not used it in the last 3 years.
Like adobe reader ,most people don,t need it, it makes your pc more insecure.
EG foxit reader ,works fine,loads faster, does,nt need monthly updates.

yoyo

riclad wrote: »

Theres no need for average user to install java, unless you are using certain specific websites that require java,plugin
OR you are a programmer/developer.
i have not used it in the last 3 years.
Like adobe reader ,most people don,t need it, it makes your pc more insecure.
EG foxit reader ,works fine,loads faster, does,nt need monthly updates.

Java is still used by a fair amount of cross platform software, various banks/govnt. depts. use it. Certainly not a dying technology. Its probably something that many people will use on any platform at some point in the next few weeks/months for whatever reason :pac:

Nick

Gadgetman496

I'm sure too that many users use regularly without even realising it?

riclad

IN THE Last year i bought a new pc ,new laptop, both windows 7,
never once have i even seen a website that mentions java ,
or says please install java.
I do,nt use online banking websites.

RainyDay

I tried using NoScript to block Java, but it was just unusable - almost every bloody site seemed to use it in some shape or form for me.

yoyo

RainyDay wrote: »

I tried using NoScript to block Java, but it was just unusable - almost every bloody site seemed to use it in some shape or form for me.

JavaScript != Java . Two very different technologies. JavaScript is used on pretty near every website nowadays, and for the most part is safe enough. Java is a browser plugin, that can execute applications embedded in websites known as applets, one of the main source for the current Java issues

Nick

RainyDay

yoyo wrote: »

Ninite is the best way to update Java (and everything else actually ) I find, very efficient

Nick

Thanks - worth a try, but it didn't solve the problem. It is giving me a similar error as the standard installer.

Other suggestions very welcome.

RainyDay

I found the Microsoft Fixit tool sorted it out for me; http://support.microsoft.com/mats/Program_Install_and_Uninstall

Dinarius

RainyDay wrote: »

I tried using NoScript to block Java, but it was just unusable - almost every bloody site seemed to use it in some shape or form for me.

I suspect my bank is the only site I use Java for.

D.