Just like VHS and Windoze, Java is popular despite being inferior; but all three are useful and used because of their popularity.
Many great people use Java to develop great stuff: Lucene is absolutely amazing, and Freenet looks brilliant. Projects like Jakarta and GNU, and people like Stephen Ostermiller, are making my Java experience much more bearable.
I prefer forcing steam through finely-ground coffee beans. In case you haven’t noticed: I’m not a Java fan. In fact, I’m probably a Java anti-fan. This doesn’t mean I’m anti-Java, just that I don’t think Java is a good programming language.
I started programming in Java in 1995, joined the developers’ network, and attended the UK Java conventions, so my opinions are based on experience and not ignorant language prejudice.