[Discuss] Is there a supported browser for Linux that still runs Java applets? (also Flash)

[dsr at randomstring.org (Dan Ritter)]

On Wed, Jul 05, 2017 at 11:23:24AM -0400, Bill Bogstad wrote:
> As the web marches on, older technologies fall by the wayside.  Java applets
> seem to be one of them.   All the major browsers seem to have stopped
> supporting them at this point.  Unfortunately, this can result in
> broken systems.  For me, my biggest use case is an older all-in-one
> printer from Lexmark that uses a java applet to enable its scan to PC
> functionality in a browser.  I seem to recall that java applets were
> even used to support enterprise level hardware at one point.  Is this
> an issue that other people are having?   Any suggestions on how to
> maintain browser/java applet support going forward on a Linux system?
> I'm not looking for a solution that will let me use the same browser
> for all of my web browsing.   Just something which will continue to
> work as I apply "mandatory" security upgrades to my systems.  (i.e.
> the latest browser updates)

You can get one of the firefox-esr series and use it
indefinitely, as long as you don't upgrade it.

Oracle themselves is disavowing java plugins, with official EOL
announced but not specified.


> Oh, same question about Flash.   It isn't quite as dead as Java
> applets, but it is pretty clear that it is on its way out.  There
> islots of kid oriented content out there that was created using Flash
> that is going to die when it goes away.  My biggest use case is MIT's
> Scratch project.   They switched to implementing Scratch in Flash some
> years ago.  My kids are avid scratchers and I'm worried that they may
> lose access in the near future.   Unfortunately, I've been unable to
> find anything on the Scratch web site about plans to deal with Flash
> becoming unusable. In the modern Scratch world everything is done on
> their web site so this could be a real problem for their kid/teen
> oriented user base.  Thoughts/solutions?

https://scratch.mit.edu/developers shows several projects to
avoid Flash. Dunno how well they work.

-dsr-