A More FHS-Compliant JDK Install

[Andrew Haley]

On 01/03/2011 03:09 AM, Lussier, Denis wrote:
> I too like the idea that the version of OpenJDK that comes pre-built with
> your Linux distro is pre-installed and just works.  But... I wonder how/if
> the Linux Distro's will configure simultaneously with JDK6&  JDK7 when they
> are both mainstream.

Hopefully, the usual Java backwards compatibility will be maintained,
so mostly it won't matter.  However, the packages may be installed
side-by-side, with a symlink for the global default.  Like this example
from Fedora 13:

/usr/bin/java -->
/etc/alternatives/java -->
/usr/lib/jvm/java-1.6.0-openjdk-1.6.0.0.x86_64/jre/bin/java

I can't yet comment on whether distros will choose to allow multiple
JDKs, though: just that there is no strong technical reason that
forbids it.

Andrew.