Re: Friends don't let friends install Java.
"But there is nothing wrong with using Java as a normal programming language, like for server applications or even on desktop."
You mean other than the need for a JVM for it to run inside.
Personally I'm sick and tired of meeting Java applications on the desktop since the first thing I have to do is recognize which Microsoft standard UI behaviors and practices have been getting the programmer's goat for years so I can alter my expectations and habits to allow for (from memory of real examples) Hot Keys that don't do what they do even on Unix terminals, window sizing button positions, scroll bar behavior and so forth - pointless and annoying crap that doesn't help get the UI into the background of my perception where it belongs so I can do my job.
And don't get me started on my feelings about the "just so good and no further" attitude that means screens don't refresh properly when displaying dynamic information (on Unix or Windows), or the Java Programmer habit of believing a three yard long execution stack trace is a suitable substitute for a five inch error message.
But of course, that is a cultural thing, not a language shortcoming.