Raspberry Pi Forums

Hi all,

I've just received my new RPi 2 starter kit (I've developed with the Pi for a while but I like to buy a kit to start with after fiasco I had with underpowered PSU). Anyway, the kit arrives with the new Class 10 SD Card. The package is emblazoned with the Element14 and Raspberry Pi Foundation Logos. As well as the Java logo, and underneath that the text "Java Powered".

Now, I am no electronic expert, but as soon as I saw that, the only thing that came to mind was SIM Cards and the fact that they are Java cards, allowing network operators to have programs running on them, for various functions. This could be interacting with the handset, or with the network. I don't know all the details on that, but I assume they can dial-out pretty easily. They are at the heart of the phone, after all.

So, after looking at Wikipedia about MicroSD Cards, and seeing nothing regarding Java. And after looking up the model full specification from SanDisk and getting nothing, I am back here. It seems like this card is super special, and only came out just for the Pi? Forgive me if I'm wrong on this, but the only outlets selling it also sell the Pi.

I am NOT going to plug this thing into any of my computers until I know exactly what the heck it is capable of. Call me paranoid, but in the wake of recent revelations, I don't trust anything. I don't plug unknown USB sticks into my computers (although I have to concede at some points, when I buy new devices myself).

So, could anyone enlighten me as to what this "Java Powered" means. Does this Micro SD Card also have Java Card capabilities? If so, why? I'm slightly annoyed that there is just a logo, with no further explanation from either SanDisk or the RPi Foundation.

It just means that a version of Java is Java is pre-installed in the Linux distro on the card.
Nothing sinister about it.

But to feed your paranoia: see e.g. http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=3554

I would just love to accept that answer but....

As far as I can tell from the NOOBS Github: https://github.com/raspberrypi/noobs, there is no Java used. So this card does not have Linux with Java on it right now. So that would be false endorsement.

So does one of the Pi Foundation/Element14 procurement staff or engineers have a solid answer as to why I have a Java logo on my SD Card packaging.
I will NOT be plugging it in and will return the whole shebang and go back to Chinese boards again, should I not get a valid explanation as to why my SD Card packaging suggests that it is powered by Java.

The full noobs image contains a number of OS builds including the raspberry pi foundation's raspbian setup. The raspberry pi foundation's raspbian setup contains java.

edge0701 wrote:I would just love to accept that answer but....

As far as I can tell from the NOOBS Github: https://github.com/raspberrypi/noobs, there is no Java used. So this card does not have Linux with Java on it right now. So that would be false endorsement.

So does one of the Pi Foundation/Element14 procurement staff or engineers have a solid answer as to why I have a Java logo on my SD Card packaging.
I will NOT be plugging it in and will return the whole shebang and go back to Chinese boards again, should I not get a valid explanation as to why my SD Card packaging suggests that it is powered by Java.

Java is part of the Raspbian distribution, which is also on your NOOBS card.
There are a lot of reasons to become paranoid, but a Java logo on an SD card package isn't one of them.

edge0701 wrote:I would just love to accept that answer but....

As far as I can tell from the NOOBS Github: https://github.com/raspberrypi/noobs, there is no Java used. So this card does not have Linux with Java on it right now. So that would be false endorsement.

So does one of the Pi Foundation/Element14 procurement staff or engineers have a solid answer as to why I have a Java logo on my SD Card packaging.
I will NOT be plugging it in and will return the whole shebang and go back to Chinese boards again, should I not get a valid explanation as to why my SD Card packaging suggests that it is powered by Java.

Consider the issue the other way round. If Java were there for a sinister reason, would its presence be advertised on the packaging?

Well, the reason didn't have to be sinister...Just the fact that it could have the potential would have been enough to put me off.

I've now seen the Offline NOOBS image, which has Raspbian on it. Satisfied with the answers now.

Thanks all for allaying my fears. But I still think it's ridiculous having a logo that seems to suggest that the SD Card is being powered by Java.

Edit: Plus, having a runtime installed on an OS doesn't mean it's "Powered" by Java either. Really ambiguous use of logo.