Re: Which Java to use?
Jim Hall wrote:
> I need to install a Java Runtime Environment (now, for
> Firefox) on my churchs computer lab systems (all Sarge). I
> installed Flash by using the "flashplugin-nonfree" pkg.
> I've found something similar for installing a JRE:
> "java-package". It works with the Standard Edition of the
> following: Sun 1.4 & 1.5; IBM 1.3 & 1.4; Blackdown 1.3 &
> 1.4. Ideally, I won't have to upgrade it for a fairly long
> time. These are not cutting edge systems. First priority
> is rock solid.
>
> Does anyone have any recommendations for which JRE I
> should use in a "set it and forget it" environment?
>
> Jim
I had to decide some time ago which JRE to install under
Debian sarge. At that time I read up on what's available,
i.e. the three you mentioned plus Kaffe, I believe. The
Sun JRE 1.5 seemed to be the best option, and that's what I
installed. I actually installed it directly from their
website in my home dir, so that I would be able to update
it manually rather than wait for an updated deb package to
percolate down into the sarge repository.
The Sun JRE 1.4 is outdated. The Sun website says: "Java
Runtime Environment 5.0 (1.5.0) has been released. This
update fixes many problems that users are having with Java.
Upgrading is highly recommended."
Following are my notes (updated) from installing the Sun JRE
1.5 so that you can run Java applets etc. in your Firefox
browser. Forgive me if this is not pertinent to you.
Robert
------------
HOW TO INSTALL JRE AND THE JAVA PLUGIN FOR FIREFOX/MOZILLA
1. Go to the mozdev.org website for plugin support
http://plugindoc.mozdev.org/linux.html#Java
and click on Sun JRE 5.0 Update 5 (under Java Runtime
Environment).
Accept the license agreement and download the Linux
self-extracting file jre-1_5_0_05-linux-i586.bin.
2. Move this file to your home directory.
3. Open a console, navigate to your home directory and make
the downloaded JRE file executable by entering the command
chmod +x jre-1_5_0_05-linux-i586.bin
4. Execute the file by entering the command
./jre-1_5_0_05-linux-i586.bin
Agree to the licence terms (type yes after pressing the
space bar several times at <More>). This will install the
JRE as well as Java Web Start and Java Plugin in the
current directory, which is your home directory (i.e.
in /<path_to_your_home_dir>/jre1.5.0_05).
5. Next, you have to register the Java plugin with the
Firefox browser by putting a symbolic link to it in its
plugins directory. Open a console, navigate to the Firefox
plugins directory and first remove any existing link in
this directory by deleting any existing file
libjavaplugin_oji.so. Then create a new symbolic link by
entering the command (all one line)
ln
-s /<path_to_your_home_dir>/jre1.5.0_05/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so .
E.g. in my case that would be ln
-s /home/robert/jre1.5.0_05/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so .
Be sure to include the space and period at the end. This
will create a symbolic link in your Firefox plugins
directory to the plugin in the JRE directory.
6. Finally, you have to tell the system where the JRE is
located by setting the PATH environment variable in your
~/.bashrc file. Open a console, navigate to your home dir
and execute the command (all one line)
echo 'export
PATH=/<path_to_your_home_dir>/jre1.5.0_05/bin:"${PATH}" '
>> .bashrc
Again, make the proper substitution for your home dir, e.g.
in my case that would be
echo 'export PATH=/home/robert/jre1.5.0_05/bin:"${PATH}" '
>> .bashrc
This appends the line
export PATH=/home/robert/jre1.5.0_05/bin:"${PATH}"
to the end of the .bashrc file in your home directory.
Then log out of Debian and log in again (to update the PATH
variable), and you're ready to run any Java-dependent
software including Java applets in Firefox and/or Mozilla.
--- FINISHED ---
Optionally, if you want to use the new JRE (installed in
your home directory) system-wide for Java applications you
can forego the above PATH amendment and instead append the
following set of commands to the very end of the .bashrc
file in your home dir.
JAVA_HOME=/home/robert/jre1.5.0_05
export JAVA_HOME
PATH="$PATH:/home/robert/jre1.5.0_05/bin:."
export PATH
Again, make the proper substitutions for /home/robert/.
To verify that everything is properly installed, you can run
the following commands in a console:
echo $PATH (this should now include the path to java,
e.g. /home/robert/jre1.5.0_05/bin)
java -version (this should show ' java version "1.5.0_05" ')
which java (this should show
e.g. /home/robert/jre1.5.0_05/bin/java)
In Firefox, in the URL field, type: about:plugins
The Java plugin should now be listed.
Go to http://java.com/en/download/help/testvm.xml
If you can see the dancing Duke logo image animated in the
applet, then the JRE is functioning correctly.
The above local installation of JRE in your home directory
doesn't touch any existing system-wide installation of
another JRE. E.g. you can keep any other Debian
installation of a JRE (e.g. 1.4.2_06), in case some Java
programs only run under that version - or you can remove it
through apt-get.
I installed Firefox and Mozilla in my home dir and find that
to be the most convenient place to have them on a single
user machine. If your browser(s) are installed elsewhere,
you will have to adjust the syntax of the ln -s command and
you probably will have to do that as root.
The Firefox and/or Mozilla plugins directories should
contain only the symbolic link to the plugin in the
jre1.5.0_03/plugin/i386/ns7 directory, not the plugin
(libjavaplugin_oji.so) itself. If you copy the plugin
itself from the JRE plugin dir to the browser plugins dir,
the browser will crash every time you open a page
containing a Java applet.
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