On Sat, 15 Jan 2005, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
historically, i've always installed java by grabbing the appropriate package from sun's download area. but in FC3, i see this java-1.4.2-gcj-compat package, which is supported through the "alternatives" feature.
if i want the full SDK, do i still install java as i always have? does this gcj package cause any conflict? should i remove it? should i ignore it?
Java is best handled these days with the JPackage repository (www.jpackage.org). There are two ways to install Sun's Java. The easy way is to install Sun's 1.4.2 RPM and the JPackage java-1.4.2-sun-compat package. Then you can use alternatives to select the Java you want. (Installing this RPM will make Sun java the default, I believe.)
The better way is to grab one of Sun's .bin files (not the RPMs) and use it to build JPackage's java-1.4.2-sun or java-1.5.0-sun nosource RPMs. Then you can use alternatives to select the Java you want. (Installing this RPM will make Sun java the default, I believe.) There are instructions for building these non-free RPMs at JPackage.
Be sure to get the latest jpackage-utils-1.6.2-1jpp from Jpackage before starting.
-- Matthew Saltzman
Clemson University Math Sciences mjs AT clemson DOT edu http://www.math.clemson.edu/~mjs
