Fine then. Most of this stuff could be coded in python easily enough. And python’s fairly portable. Use that instead.
Anyway blackboard is a webapp. Whenever I used it, it was just a java plugin in a browserframe that went back to some server on campus. It should have been written in HTML, Javascript, CSS, some kind of database (take your pick) and perl/python/php/ruby/asp/coldfusion.
There’s no reason to use Java for anything really anymore. There are tons of solutions to replace it, and a number of apps I support at work crash every time a Java update rolls out. Also any time IE gets updated. Also anytime chrome gets updated. Also anytime a new version of the corporate VPN client is pushed out. It’s a godawful mess right now. Our time-keeping system has been broken for a week because of a non-optional java update we can’t block unless we block Java from even using HTTP ports. Which would break the timekeeping applet all over again.
