This morning I was annoyed by yet another Java security update, but what bugged me most was that I had to watch the install like a hawk to make sure that it did not download McAfee’s virus scanner or the Ask toolbar.

While Oracle did not bother updating Java that much this was less of a problem, but I have still occasionally forgotten to check the box at the right moment and installed it. That means 15 minutes of swearing and uninstalling the bloatware. Now there is a petition which has been organised by Dr Saeid Nourian calling for Oracle to stop it as it can’t make the outfit a lot of money and is really annoying. Nourian said that Oracle Corporation was sacrificing the integrity of Java by bundling software with its product.

“It is demeaning for a respected corporation such as Oracle to resort to such techniques only to make a small profit. Ask Toolbar hijacks user's default search engine and forwards them to Ask search engine which resorts to various misleading advertisement techniques in order to confuse the unsuspecting users into clicking on their paid ads,” Nourian wrote.

He has formed a petition and wants users and Java programmers, to sign demanding that the Oracle remove Ask Toolbar from the Java installer and not bundle any other 3rd party software with Java in the future. You can sign the petition here. Nourian wants 250,000 signatures.