Debian native java

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Newsgroups: gmane.linux.debian.user
Date: 2004-12-18 20:33:05

> Is Debian native java OK?

What package/s are you talking about?

I am using blackdown j2re1.4, it works. I understand the free software java systems don't work 100% yet.

This is the Debian Java FAQ:

http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-java-faq/ch11.html

and here is the relevant bit of it:

11.1 How can I get Debian packages from Blackdown?

If the releases provided aren't recent enough for you, you can of course install the files from the Blackdown mirrors. You can either use the Debian packages provided by Blackdown or download their tar files.

If you want to use their packages, add the following line [2] to your /etc/apt/sources.list:

deb proto://url/debian potato main non-free
deb proto://url/debian woody main non-free
deb proto://url/debian testing main non-free
deb proto://url/debian unstable main non-free

Where proto://url is one of the mirrors from the list available at http://www.blackdown.org/java-linux/mirrors.html. [3] For example, in Debian 3.0 using Metalab's mirror use:

deb ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/linux/devel/lang/java/blackdown.org/debian woody main non-free

And then do:

$ apt-get update
$ apt-get install j2sdk1.4

(I changed the j2sdk1.3 to j2sdk1.4)

you can also just install j2se1.4 if you don't need the development kit.

Debian native java

> > I understand the free software java systems don't work 100% yet.
>
> So I read. That's why I'm scared and asked before trying. Seeing that you
> are using it really gives me the confident to give it a try.

No, the blackdown j2re1.4 works perfectly fine, but it's not DFSG free software due to licensing conditions imposed by Sun.

There are other projects to create a real free software java platform, but they are not finished yet.

Sam Watkins

Debian native java

> Thanks for the input. Yeah, I meant to try the 'free-java-sdk' since it is
> default in Debian Testing. But looking up Debian Java faq, I noticed that
> things are more complicated than that. More sdk/jvm are available, and I
> can't tell which one is better than others by just reading the faq.

Without any shadow of a doubt the blackdown packages are "better" than free-java-sdk if you want a functioning java system. If you require a free-software java system, go for free-java-sdk - but don't be surprised when it doesn't run your java programs.

> Ok, let's forget the debian java packages and consider a simple question:
> I'm not just trying to compile a couple of small java programs. I want to
> use Java. Nowadays, many utilities are released in Java. Big monsters that
> comes to my mind are, eclips, jbuilder, together, IBM db2 control center,
> etc. What would be the best/safest java sdk package to use for such case,
> and all those ready built .jar files?

The blackdown or the sun java systems should work with these. If you can get any of them to run with free-java-sdk, I am surprised, amazed and impressed.

If you want to get your java programs running and get your work done, install blackdown java. If have ethical objections to non-free software, or you want to support the development of free-software java systems, install free-java-sdk. Or you can install both (I don't think they conflict).

You said "I want to use java", so install the blackdown j2re-1.4 and j2sdk-1.4 packages.

http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-java-faq/ch11.html

The sun system is a reasonable alternative, but if I understand correctly it's essentially the same as the blackdown system anyway, blackdown port java to linux for Sun (and us). And it's not packaged for debian, so it will be a pain to install. The ibm system apparently doesn't support all of java 2.

Sam Watkins