ndt-users list created

[Peter Van Epp <>]

On Thu, Aug 24, 2006 at 10:38:12AM -0400, Richard Carlson wrote:
> All;
> 
> By now you have all seen the email exchange between Peter Van Epp and 
> me.  I would like some feedback from this user community before deciding on 
> a final solution to the bug Peter reported.
> 
> Internet2 is now supplying an Knoppix based Live-CD with a pre-installed 
> NDT server.  I built this server using the Java 1.4.2 SDK.  As Peter 
> reported the jut released NDT-3.3.12 distribution fails on some Mac 
> browsers with a run-time exception.  Peter's team reported the problem and 
> also supplied me with a patch (thanks Lixin).
> 
> I applied this patch to my test system, generated a 3.3.13 distribution, 
> and set this up on my test system (web100.internet2.edu) again using the 
> 1.4.2 SDK.
> 
> Peter now reports that the Safari browser on his Mac still fails, but 
> firefox and opera work on the patched system.

        Being finally out of 
meetings-the-practical-alternative-to-anything-usefull :-)

        This one turned out to be operator error, I had at some point disabled
Java in Safari. When I enabled it all three browsers work the same. 

> 
> One possible solution to the Safari problem is to switch to the Java 1.5.0 
> SDK development package.  Unfortunately, this is not a simple switch.  I 
> have found that an Applet built with the 1.5.0 SDK will not run if the 
> browser is using the 1.4.2 JRE.  All the user gets is a small red X in the 
> applet window.
> 

        Yes, thats what started us down this path :-). Lixin had the 1.5 SDK
on our server and we got that exact thing on my machine. I'm still running 
Mac 
10.3 (while waiting for a new G5 to appear to install 10.4 on) so SDK 1.4.2 
is 
the last one available for 10.3 (and things like Win98 both of which are 
admittadly old). SDK 1.5 is only available on Mac OS 10.4 according to our 
Mac support folks. 

> There are 2 issues that I how need to address.  (1) what SDK version should 
> I use to build the Knoppix ISO?  Since this is burned onto the disk it 
> needs to work for the majority of cases.  (2) should I recommend a SDK 
> version for administrators who download and install the NDT tar file.
> 
> Our options are:
> 
> 1) do nothing and ignore those pesky Mac users .-) [not a real option]
> 2) apply the patches Lixin supplied and continue to use the 1.4.2 
> SDK.  [This may mean that Mac Safari users will be unable to run tests.]
> 3) apply the patches and upgrade to the 1.5.0 SDK.  [This will force user 
> to upgrade the JRE plug-in and there needs to be a note on the NDT web page 
> telling users to do that.]
> 4) find out what new patches are needed to make the Safari browser run with 
> a 1.4.2 Applet.
> 

        Sounds like the oldest version that will support IP V6 would be a good
option, 1.4.2 if 1.3 doesn't. It seems that later versions on the client side
are backward compatable to 1.4.2 (at least) and that would give the widest 
range of possible clients out there who can connect. 
        I'd think a note pointing out that an older SDK will be the most 
compatible with old client OSs for the self compiling folks would also be a
good bet, so the builder can decide if they have all new machines or not  
:-). 

Peter Van Epp / Operations and Technical Support 
Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C. Canada