That sounds like good behaviour for the browser plugin, but removing the entire JDK would be annoying if you used Eclipse. I suspect that non-plugin use of the JDK would not be as impacted by the security issues.

And would BREAK things if you run Tomcat/JBoss/Glassfish/etc... Seriously the idea of running a package update that would erase key requirements to running my production J2EE apps is totally insane. I guess I'll stick with RHEL. For all it's issues, they've never talked about silently deleting my JDK.....

redhat also removes packages when they cant update them

https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2011-0368.html

https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2008-1045.html

Fortunately, Eclipse users are generally going to be in a position to fix the problem, or they can even pin the packages in advance if they want to remain vulnerable. On the other hand, any other resolution would lead to compromised users not able to fix the problem.

First, if I have my java browser plugin installed, I don't expect my browser to offer me to install my java browser plugin. It may well be a malicious site tricking me into something, who knows.

Second, this does not solve all the other myriad use cases that do not involve the browser, like stand-alone java programs. What if my java application does not run anymore after switching to a different implementation? I see my java package still installed and 'java' on the command line still works. That's some nice fun cases for "It worked yesterday and I haven't done anything in the meantime" admin calls.