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Oracle, it's time to free JavaScript

javascript.tm

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Re: Oracle, it's time to free JavaScript

#41

Post by the_mitsuhiko »

criticalfault wrote: post #40

> JavaScript is the world’s most popular programming language Is this really so? I have the feeling this is 'popular' because there are no alternatives. Web is popular, this is just an accompanying disaster. There was an argument about fragmentation so people didn't want more things as option. As an answer to that there were many (?) attempts to solve problems that come with JavaScript for years, anybody remember cof…

> Is this really so? […] I have the feeling this is 'popular' because there are no alternatives

I think it's pretty clear that JavaScript is the most popular one. And yes, it's popular because in it's space it's without alternatives. But so was C for many environments. We can judge if that's fair or unfair, but it does not change the situation we have.

Re: Oracle, it's time to free JavaScript

#42

Post by devsda »

whartung wrote: post #28

They're clinging to it because of the "java" part, not the "script" part. And they'll hold on to that tightly. The most manifest example of this is simply what they made the Eclipse org jump through when they dropped, now, "Jakarta" EE. That was not a small rock in the Java pond at the time when we had to go through the Great Renaming. But they did it anyway because the packages used to be named "javax", and Oracle w…

> That was not a small rock in the Java pond at the time when we had to go through the Great Renaming.

Haha. It still hasn't ended actually.

Slowly all the old software that supported only java ee are now (nearing) EOL.

Only recently I've seen teams planning and preparing for the "move".

Re: Oracle, it's time to free JavaScript

#43

Post by linhns »

austin-cheney wrote: post #8

JavaScript is just a name. The current language's official name, according to the specification defining that language, is ECMAScript. If the trademark is a problem then simply call it by a different name.

People will keep calling it JavaScript as it’s easier to say

Re: Oracle, it's time to free JavaScript

#44

Post by SahAssar »

ivanjermakov wrote: post #18

> and it is causing widespread, unwarranted confusion and disruption In what way? I don't see any immediate benefits.

All the official specs and working groups use different terms than what people colloquially use.

It's a bit similar to when people still call TLS "SSL" but that is for very different reasons.

Re: Oracle, it's time to free JavaScript

#45

Post by olliej »

merb wrote: post #35
alberth wrote: post #16

There’s lots of colloquially used names by the general public that technically infringe trademark. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_generic_and_generici... “Aspirin”, “elevators”, “laundromat” are just a few examples. Even “App Store” was trademarked (by Apple).

Well done stuff probably is not enforceable, like App Store. That is too generic

I'm not sure - trademark law is tricky - "The Container Store" is trademarked (and while you might say "App Store" is too generic, but I don't recall the term existing prior to "The App Store", so this might be a "Hoover" or similar situation).

I remember McDonald's used[?] to have "All Beef" as a trademark for their burger patties (I also recall them getting in trouble in NZ as just because they're "All Beef" brand doesn't mean you can advertise them as "All Beef Patties" in a way that is clearly intended to imply they're "all beef")

Re: Oracle, it's time to free JavaScript

#46

Post by exabrial »

criticalfault wrote: post #40

> JavaScript is the world’s most popular programming language Is this really so? I have the feeling this is 'popular' because there are no alternatives. Web is popular, this is just an accompanying disaster. There was an argument about fragmentation so people didn't want more things as option. As an answer to that there were many (?) attempts to solve problems that come with JavaScript for years, anybody remember cof…

^ This.

Popular, but terrible.

Re: Oracle, it's time to free JavaScript

#49

Post by [deleted] »

criticalfault wrote: post #40

> JavaScript is the world’s most popular programming language Is this really so? I have the feeling this is 'popular' because there are no alternatives. Web is popular, this is just an accompanying disaster. There was an argument about fragmentation so people didn't want more things as option. As an answer to that there were many (?) attempts to solve problems that come with JavaScript for years, anybody remember cof…

[deleted]

Re: Oracle, it's time to free JavaScript

#50

Post by connicpu »

alberth wrote: post #16

There’s lots of colloquially used names by the general public that technically infringe trademark. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_generic_and_generici... “Aspirin”, “elevators”, “laundromat” are just a few examples. Even “App Store” was trademarked (by Apple).

The general public can't infringe a trademark unless they're selling a competing product ;) Interestingly, Aspirin becoming a generic term in many countries was more of a result of WW1 as the allied powers seized various things from German companies (like Bayer) for war reparations, including intellectual property like trademarks. It was technically purchased by an American company for use in the US after the war, but I guess they didn't defend the mark very well and it quickly fell into genericism.
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