Re:Or not (Score 1)

Write once run anware is a load of bull.

Once upon a time, I found myself at a remote demo site trying to fix some broken software. Now, we were primarily a linux shop. Though one component had to run under WinNT due to Prolog support. (Back in the dawn of time before Linux support became commonplace.)

Anyways, we're all working on laptops. And, due to a bizarre unfortunate hardware/software configuration, we found we couldn't transfer large quantities of data to the NT box. No cdrom support. No feasible way to manage it via ethernet. Etc. (Mind you, all the Linux boxes were happy. It was just the NT box that was uncooperative. Don't even get me started on what was required to get the ethernet card semi-working in the first place! On Linux it was grab, plug, and play. NT actually cared about the card version number. "No not that one. I need one that ends in a 'C'. No, the other one that ends in a 'C'. Oh hell, maybe if I uninstall and reinstall the drivers a few more times...")

So, pluck up the NT-side source code backup cdrom. Put it into a linux box. Share /cdrom so my laptop can see it. Edit the JAVA source code under Linux. Compile it under Linux. Copy the .class files onto a floppy. Put the floppy into the NT box. Copy the .class files off the floppy onto the NT box. Software now works. Go find coworkers who are trying to upload the files by modem across half the country just so they can download them again under NT.

Now, about that "write once run anywhere" nonsense. Perchance, are you living in a big river in Egypt? Better known as "de Nile"...