Re: Use of update-alternatives or JAVA_HOME (was: Experience in converting to GCJ)
On 11 Aug 2003, Michael R Head wrote:
> I actually use update-alternatives to point to
> /usr/local/lib/j2sdk/bin/java which is a symlink to j2sdk1.4.2 or
> whatever the latest I have installed is.
>
> That said, using the JAVA_HOME variable (if it is set) allow a user on
> the system to easily select which JDK to use. Now my users can just do
> export JAVA_HOME=/home/me/my_own_special_jdk, and type 'java -version'
> and have it work right.
> As far as I know, alternatives can only be set by the system
> administrator (and anyway, they certainly don't allow for multiple
> environments to test a package against all the different JDKs).
>
> Of course, if you want all that support anyway, you might as well fiddle
> with the PATH and set it to whichever java home directory you want. But
> the point remains that alternatives isn't a perfect solution for the
> multiple-(possibly-user-installed)-jdk problem.
It's possible to use update-alternatives as a user(it may not be easy, and
could be made easier with appropriate patches).
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