Discussion:
Slackware with browser Java support
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James H. Markowitz
2021-02-21 02:12:20 UTC
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I have an old camera that still works (very well, in fact) but
that requires a browser with Java support for all of its configuration
aspects.

After some online searching, the only browser that supports Java
under Slackware seems to be Pale Moon. The problem is that the camera is
very picky, just rejecting anything that is not either IE11 or Safari.
With some effort, I was able to get Pale Moon to spoof its user agent
string, but, for some reason, it seems to be unable to render the web
site of the camera properly - in fact, it makes a mess of it. On the
other hand, Firefox deals with it with not problems, in this sense - but
there is no Java support in Firefox any more.

With this in mind, my questions are the following:

1) What is the most recent release of Slackware that ships with
Firefox still supporting the Java plugin?

2) What JDK version should I use? I suspect that JDK 8 won't do.

My goal would be to have a VM with the appropriate Slackware release
exclusively for configuring this camera.
Rich
2021-02-21 04:02:25 UTC
Permalink
Post by James H. Markowitz
1) What is the most recent release of Slackware that ships
with Firefox still supporting the Java plugin?
Alternately, install an older Firefox release in a custom location
(i.e. /opt/Firefox-x.x.x/) that has support for the java plugin, and
launch that browser for use only when accessing the camera.
Post by James H. Markowitz
2) What JDK version should I use? I suspect that JDK 8 won't
do.
That likely depends upon what version the camera wants, and you possess
the camera, so you are in the best position to determine that one.
Post by James H. Markowitz
My goal would be to have a VM with the appropriate Slackware release
exclusively for configuring this camera.
Still reasonable, but you should still simply be able to install an
older firefox (in the VM as well if you want) for use with the camera.
James H. Markowitz
2021-02-21 21:49:21 UTC
Permalink
Post by James H. Markowitz
1) What is the most recent release of Slackware that ships
with Firefox still supporting the Java plugin?
Alternately, install an older Firefox release in a custom location (i.e.
/opt/Firefox-x.x.x/) that has support for the java plugin, and launch
that browser for use only when accessing the camera.
Post by James H. Markowitz
2) What JDK version should I use? I suspect that JDK 8 won't
do.
That likely depends upon what version the camera wants, and you possess
the camera, so you are in the best position to determine that one.
Post by James H. Markowitz
My goal would be to have a VM with the appropriate Slackware release
exclusively for configuring this camera.
Still reasonable, but you should still simply be able to install an
older firefox (in the VM as well if you want) for use with the camera.
Thanks. In the end, I installed Slackware 12.2, and things work
better than I expected.

First, I did not have to install a Java plugin for Firefox, which
- obviously - is installed by default when 12.2 is installed. Second, my
camera accepts this version of Firefox without complaints - which is a
nice thing although, in retrospect, not entirely unexpected: I am pretty
sure I accessed that camera back in the day when I was running 12.2.

The only thing that does not work is the live video window, but I
couldn't care less about that for I can already get a live feed from that
camera by other means anyway.

Since I don't really have to access this camera for configuration
chores more often than once in a blue moon, the 12.2 VM approach works
perfectly for me. Once again, thanks to Slackware.

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