[plug] Java plugin in Mozilla slow....

[Craig Ringer]

>>"Java(TM) Plug-in 1.4.2-b28" on the Mozilla plugins page.
> 
> The first two digits of Sun's Java version numbers are actually the
> slowdown factor relative to an arbitrary speed of '1'. So, 1.4 is slower
> than 1.3 is slower than 1.2, etc. (This is qualitatively true.)

Oh come on, they improved the performance of a bunch of mathematical 
functions nobody ever uses no end in 1.4 . Too bad about the rest of it.

>>Anyone got any ideas?

Have you checked to see if the issue is CPU load (using 'top' or 
similar), if the machine is swapping, taking ages to transfer data 
to/from the switch, etc?

If you're using Mozilla 1.4 or newer (vanilla from mozilla.org), you 
need the gcc3.2-built version of the Java 1.4.2 browser plugin. This 
only works on systems built with gcc3.2, so all Debian Woody users and 
other older distro users have to wait for debian packages of Mozilla or 
build your own with gcc 2.x. Mozilla built with GCC 2.x will work with 
older java builds, so there's no need to grab sun's latest beta.

> HP should outsource its development of user interfaces.

My new Netgear managed switch is Java based, too. It works rather 
nicely, however, and I'm quite happy with it. Admittedly because I was 
half expecting a message saying "Your browser does not support ActiveX".

Craig Ringer