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Going cold turkey on the unholy trinity

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lanux128:
for some reasons, i am trying to keep Flash, Java & Adobe's PDF off my computer (more specifically out of my home network).

i am quite determined to get by without these ubiquitous trinity, therefore i am wondering if there are any methods being used by the community to do that currently.

as it stands, PDF is the easiest to replace and Flash is in the middle ground, being gradually replaced by HTML5 at most sites. however Java is a different kettle of soup/fish/tea, with it being the prerequisite for some apps/games (damn you, minecraft!). in the long run, i am thinking of a sand-boxed version of java being made available just for those software that requires it.

with my weak google-fu, i could only find this article - http://www.pcworld.com/article/2030153/how-i-ditched-the-security-risks-and-lived-without-java-reader-and-flash.html

ewemoa:
Are you trying to avoid the PDF file format or Adobe's Reader (or Acrobat)?  I use the file format but neither of Adobe's PDF-related applications (SumatraPDF and PDF-XChange Viewer seem to cover my needs).

Flash I'm installing less often, but haven't eradicated yet -- there are some sites I visit that don't really function well without it (hoping that will change but I'm not holding my breath).  One thing I've tried is to have one browser that has Flash set up for it and another that doesn't -- I try not to use the browser with Flash set up for it very much in an attempt to mitigate risk.

Java (or more specifically the JDK), I have a portable installation of and AFAICT it doesn't get invoked without my knowing it.

lanux128:
i'm ok with PDF format but not so with Adobe's unnecessarily bulky updating mechanism. i had used Adobe Acrobat before and didn't find it a hog. however nowadays, i am using the same apps as yourself (SumatraPDF and PDF-XChange Viewer).

most of my video browsing is done on my android devices and when i am at home, i just 'cast' them on my tv instead of watching on the PC. since Adobe themselves don't support Flash on Android, it should be a wake-up call for video content providers to get themselves updated. so because of that, i am holding back from using Flash on my PC.

as i said earlier, Java is a different proposition but thanks for reminding me about the portable setup. i believe i still have your batch files from sometime ago and i will try to use them to recreate a similar setup on PCs that require java.

ewemoa:
since Adobe themselves don't support Flash on Android, it should be a wake-up call for video content providers to get themselves updated.
-lanux128 (October 11, 2013, 12:31 AM)
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I hope you're right :)

as i said earlier, Java is a different proposition but thanks for reminding me about the portable setup.

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Don't know how much help it might be but there's jPortable and jPortable Launcher from PortableApps as possibly useful pieces as part of some solution.  FWIW, I am using batch files in combination with at least jPortable IIRC.

wraith808:
Adobe slimmed down the PDF reader stuff a while ago in response to the 3rd party pdf readers, but it has seemed to bloat up as of late :(  I might have to get back on the alternate PDF bandwagon at some point.  My problem is that my job now uses a plug-in to do some functionality, so I have to keep it available for testing/development.  :-\

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